COLOMBO : The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress wishes to appeal to all parties to the Afghan conflict to avoid escalating violence, which will undoubtedly be counterproductive to attaining lasting peace, according to press release issued on Monday,March 15 . The indiscriminate violent attacks, which are frequently reported, have the potential to derail the much-hyped nascent peace process. We have followed developments in Afghanistan with grave concern. The Sri Lankan nation has suffered immensely and has sacrificed many lives due to political violence. Acts of terror to achieve political objectives, unfortunately, target innocent civilians, including children and women, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or religion. We unequivocally condemn the ongoing terror attacks taking place in Afghanistan and wish to point out that there is no Islamic justification whatsoever for such indiscriminate violence to achieve political objectives.
A proper roadmap for peace with mutually agreed confidence-building measures is an urgent need to be considered as top priority to resume negotiations. The Afghan government’s decision to release over 5000 Taliban prisoners as a major concession for peacemaking and reconciliation was a step in the right direction. But it is unfortunate that such concession has not had the desired effect.
Relevant lessons learned from other peace processes must be carefully considered to suit the Afghan situation. Furthermore, the need for an agreed mediation process, underpinned and supervised by the international community with the full involvement of important regional powers in the neighborhood, is imperative for successfully finalizing a peace process. The dangerous stalemate, which is developing in the Afghan process, should not be allowed to persist any further. Considering the four-decade-long suffering of the Afghan people, we hope that all stakeholders in the Afghan peace process
