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The Killing of Goislard |
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Afghanistan is drowned in ills and evils of all kinds. Insecurity, poverty, disease, natural calamities, human cruelty, hunger, starvation, lack and or inadequacy of education and health services and ills of all sorts plague this central Asian country that has been in the center of misery, controversy, tragedy, genocide and homicide for the past quarter of a century. But Afghans in general are likable, peaceful, generous and hospitable people. Those who truly know Afghans love them for their human qualities of friendship, chivalry and hospitality. Among the people who had gotten to know Afghans was Bettina Goislard, a UN Refugee Agency worker. She was a young French woman dedicated to serve the well deserving Afghans. She had come to Afghanistan to serve in peace. The Afghan Minister of Interior had this to say about her: "The lady who has sacrificed her life - she loved Afghanistan much more than those who have killed her." The Associated Press says that Goislard in a post card sent to a friend in August had said: "The experience is fantastic: lots of work, great team, incredible country and people. I will be back in Kabul on Sunday and God knows what surprises will await me.'' And surprise did await her. Interior Minister Jalali of Afghanistan is reported to have said that her killer had received his order from a hard-line religious leader with links to Taleban many months ago, had followed her and finally assassinated her. Bettina Goislard now rests in peace at a Christian Cemetery in Kabul. Her death however has affected many aspects of UN help to the country she had committed herself to work. Assistance to the returning refugees has been suspended. The UN has decided to cut its personnel and programs. Another incident has caused the mine-clearing project to be suspended. The incident is also indicative of the failure of the transitional government and its allies, the United States and the United Nations to achieve a radical elimination of Taleban in the country. To do this it was necessary that they would be dealt with militarily. That effort succeeded due to the superior war technology of the United States that led to the toppling down of the Taleban regime. But to deal with the extremism, suppression and oppression that made the theme of the Taleban regime and their support of terrorism needed a follow up of the military conquest by civil approach of winning the population over. The population would have been won over easily if they noticed progress in the achievement of peace and propagation of democracy coupled with a sincere start to the process of reconstruction and reparation of the country's economy, health and welfare services. The objective would have been met if the transitional government could have proven to the nation that it was capable of dealing effectively with warlordism. The nation would have been won over if they saw democratic values of freedom and equality applied in the country. Many people have given their lives for the Afghan cause so far. Many of these have been Afghans, but quite a number of foreigners have also been sacrificed in their effort to see the country on the path of peace and democracy. These have included soldiers and peace workers alike. Human life is precious and every effort should be made to safeguard this asset. One effective method may be not to allow Taleban to re-establish their roots among the people by pretending that only they could bring security and peace to the country. They should not be given the chance to go to the people and tell them that democratic administrations have not been able to serve the cause of security in the country. To be able to achieve this goal, the transitional government needs
to show and prove to the people that it is on their side every inch
of the way. For this the government needs unity, intergovernmental cooperation,
trust and dedication by all its members, something that has been lacking
so far. Only then it will be able to safeguard the lives and security
of all Afghans and their friends in the international community. Only
then would the spirit of Bettina Goislard rest in true peace and her
coward assassins put to eternal shame. 11/27/03 |