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SPEECH OF H.E. HAMID KARZAI PRESIDENT OF THE TRANSITIONAL ISLAMIC STATE
OF AFGHANISTAN AT THE OIC SUMMIT IN MALAYSIA
17 OCTOBER 2003
Our Gracious host, Honorable Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad,
Chairman of the 10th. Session of the Islamic Summit Conference
Your Majesties,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Your Excellencies,
Brothers and sisters,
Assalam o Alaikum!
By way of beginning my address to this distinguished assembly, I would
like
to thank the Honorable Mahathir Mohammad for his initiative and
leadership
in convening this summit in the beautiful city of Putrajaya. My brother
Mahathir, I also want to express my personal best wishes, and those of
the
Muslim people of Afghanistan, to you as you bring to a close your
honourable career as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. During your two
decades in office, you have led the transformation of your country to
what
can rightly be considered a worthy role-model for many Muslim
countries,
including my own.
Allow me also to congratulate the State and leadership of Qatar for
their
excellent work in steering the Organisation of Islamic Conference since
its
last session. At the meeting of the OIC in Doha last year, a fund for
assistance to the Afghan people was established. The OIC has also
opened an
office in Kabul now. For all these efforts, we are grateful to the OIC
and
to our fellow Muslim countries.
Afghanistan's presence among you today, after years of absence is
testimony
to important changes and developments that the world has undergone over
the
past few years. World events have placed Afghanistan at the forefront
of
dialogues between civilizations in the past two decades. Unfortunately,
Afghanistan's OIC membership was suspended at a critical time for our
people under the Taliban rule, and the reinstatement of our membership
marks the return of the Afghan nation to the fold of the Ummah.
Among the numerous grievances of the Afghan people is the grievance
that I
am bringing to the door of the Islamic Ummah today. The last twenty
five
years have been a dark period in Afghanistan's history. For well over a
decade in the 1980s, Afghanistan was invaded in order to impose an
alien
ideology on our deeply believing Muslim society. The Afghan people put
up a
stiff resistance. We fought not only in the name of Afghanistan, but of
Islam too. And in the struggle, we sacrificed more than a million
lives,
suffered tremendous hardships, and were left with a country reduced to
rubble.
Be it for the sake of solidarity and common heritage, or a reward for
our
struggle in the name of Islam, the people of Afghanistan deserved a
helping
hand from the Ummah, While most of our fellow Muslim nations stood by
us,
along with the rest of the free world, some with material help, some
with
moral support, others with prayers, certain elements, in pursuit of
their
narrow self interest, resorted to promoting extremism. Abetted by some
and
neglected by others, the threat of extremism that germinated in the
region,
culminated in the in the phenomenon of global terrorism. Afghanistan,
with
a crippled state and a war-stricken society, was used as a playing
field.
The emergence of the Taliban regime and the planting of the Al Qaida
network in our country were visible manifestation of the phenomenon.
The phenomenon of extremism represents a much wider challenge.
Tragically
enough, in the mind of the common man in the outside world, extremism
and
terrorism are now associated with our sacred religion of Islam - a
religion
that elevated humanity, for the first time, into Ashraful Makhlooqat, a
religion that teaches peace, tolerance and justice.
Today I speak to you frankly. I believe, as leaders of the Islamic
world at
a very critical period in time, we ought to come out of the confinement
of
rhetoric and formalities. It is time we spoke from the heart. It is
time we
admitted that some of today's ills can be a consequence of our past
mistakes. It is time that we did some soul-searching to see whether we
are
contributing to a solution, or are indeed part of the problem. Today,
the
world of Islam is strewn with conflict and tensions. Today, the name of
Islam is being abused to justify murder, the burning of schools and the
terrorising of innocent populations. Some of our ills may be beyond our
reach to cure, but most are curable. We ought to find remedies for the
problems that plague us either individually or collectively as the
Ummah.
We must learn our lessons.
We are thankful to the grace of Allah the Almighty that having left
behind
many painful years of conflict and suffering, Afghanistan is starting
to
tip-toe its way on the path of stability and recovery.
As we speak, peace and reconstruction are replacing war and destruction
as
the prevailing reality. A nationwide process is underway in Afghanistan
which is aimed at bringing about good governance, institutions and the
rebuilding of infrastructure. Our sub-zero economy saw a 30 percent
growth
last year. Almost 2.5 million refugees have now returned to their
homes.
4.2 million children, about 40 percent of whom are girls, are going to
school, even though terrorists still try to intimidate our children by
torching their makeshift schools and threatening their teachers.
Physical
infrastructure, such as highways, are being reconstructed thanks to
funding
from many nations, including our Muslim friends in Saudi Arabia, Iran
and
Pakistan. A new constitution is currently being drawn up, which will
provide for the establishment of a wholly representative and functional
state.
The Afghan people are grateful to the help that we are receiving from
the
international community towards rebuilding our country. Our vision is
to
transform Afghanistan into a centre for economic opportunity in the
region
and beyond. And we believe this vision is possible to achieve.
Geographically, Afghanistan lies at the heart of the Ummah and connects
together three significant territorial entities in the Islamic world,
namely the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. We hope that you
will
consider Afghanistan's opportunity as your own.
Today, conflict and tensions abound, and the summit is justified to be
concerned about the general state of affairs in the Muslim world. As
far as
the people of Afghanistan are concerned, we realise that our calling at
this critical time is to take an effective stand. We are, therefore,
determined to build friendly, civil and constructive relationships with
our
brotherly Muslim nations. We cannot allow a sense of insecurity created
by
remnants of terrorism in our region to fester. We are engaged with our
international partners and our neighbour Pakistan in trying to find
effective means of addressing this problem. The Kabul Declaration on
Good
Neighborliness signed last December by all our neighbors constitutes
the
framework within which we can improve regional conditions and enhance
cooperation in all spheres.
Afghanistan is in favour of international stabilization efforts in
Iraq,
with UN participation. A democratic, sovereign and prosperous Iraq is
in
the interest of world peace. Our views on the bleeding wounds of the
Middle
East are known. Continued bloodshed is not the answer to a lasting
peace
between our Palestinian brethren and the Israelis. The establishment of
a
Palestinian State is an essential element in any just peace process.
While challenges remain, I would like to think that the opportunity is
there for us all to reverse negative trends by taking positive steps.
Let's
work together to project to the world the true face of Islam. Narrow
self-interests, pursued by wrong methods, must not pervade our
collective
responsibility to the Ummah. We must also realise that our collective
well-being as the Ummah depends on our capacity to engage
constructively
with the outside world. Our relationship with the West must not be
needlessly defined in the framework of a clash of civilisations. Let us
advocate for a dialogue and cooperation among civilisations.
Wassalam.
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