Karzai Talks Tough in Helmand

Afghan president Hamed Karzai gave a blistering tongue-lashing to the residents of Helmand on March 29, accusing them of perpetuating the violence and insurgency in their province.



“I am not blaming Pakistan and other countries - I blame you, the local people,” he thundered, addressing approximately 2,000 hand-picked representatives in the central mosque of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.



“You are making problems. You do not want security in your province.”



This was Karzai’s first visit to Helmand, arguably the most troubled of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.



Over the past year, bombings, kidnappings, and killings have multiplied as the Taleban have shifted their focus from neighbouring Kandahar.



Helmand is also the centre of the poppy industry, supplying well over 40 per cent of Afghanistan’s harvest. This makes Helmand alone the world’s largest producer of opium, the raw material from which heroin is made.



In February, the Taleban overran the town of Musa Qala, the site of a controversial agreement brokered between the Taleban, the village elders and British forces last October. The British agreed to withdraw, and in return the elders promised to keep the town free of insurgents.



But after a NATO strike that killed a prominent commander in Musa Qala district, the Taleban ejected the elders from the town centre and ran up their flag.



Residents have been braced for weeks, waiting for the government’s response.



On March 29, it finally came. “I do not want to take Musa Qala by force,” said Karzai. “I want to solve problems through negotiations with all sides. I am asking the Taleban to stop attacking. I say to them, ‘why are you killing your own people?’”



In Lashkar Gah, security was tight for the visit, which was not announced in advance. All the roads were blocked to traffic, and shops and offices were closed down. Jets and helicopters roared overhead for most of the day,



The president brought his own guards with him, who carefully checked the crowd at the mosque. The invitees included mullahs, elders, students, as well as the local media.



Journalists were also screened, and their equipment checked for explosives by sniffer dogs. Those summoned to the meeting were not told beforehand who the speaker was to be.



Security is Helmand’s main problem and is the issue most on people’s minds. But Karzai was in no mood to coddle them.



“As I entered Lashkar Gah, I asked many police and soldiers where they were from. I only found one from Helmand, while the rest were from other provinces.”



He urged residents, “Don’t send your young people to Pakistan and Iran, send them to the army and the police. I promise you that they will get good salaries, and that they will work here in Helmand.”



His message met with some resistance from the crowd.



“Mr Karzai, you are not thinking of us,” said one elderly man from Musa Qala. “You are visiting people behind security walls. You should come out to the districts and see what is going on there.”



But the president was not receptive to criticism.



“Everyone is asking me to bring them security, but how can I do that if you won’t help me?” he said. “I met students at a school. They asked me for security. They did not ask me for new schools.”



Over the past two years, almost half the schools in the province have been closed because of the deteriorating security situation. Teachers have been threatened, even killed, and dozens of schools have been torched.



The lack of security has made reconstruction almost impossible. There has been fierce fighting around the Kajaki dam in the province’s north, which is the site of a major hydroelectric station. Electricity in Lashkar Gah, and also in neighbouring Kandahar, which also receives power from Kajaki, has been intermittent at best. In January, the lights went off for over a month, forcing the capital to rely on expensive generators.



“We have 180 million dollars for the Kajaki dam,” Karzai told the crowd. “We will rebuild the dam and there will be work for 2,500 people and electricity for two million.”



The dam will also help supply irrigation waters to Helmand’s farmlands, making crops like wheat and cotton a viable alternative to opium poppy.



Karzai declared a very public “jihad on drugs” early in his presidency, but since his inauguration in December 2004, the situation has become steadily worse. Last year’s crop was the highest ever, and 2007 may well break even that record.



“You will have water for your lands and you will not grow these red flowers,” said Karzai. “When I was coming into Helmand I saw these flowers everywhere. You people are not poor - you are making lots of money out of these flowers.”



For the most part, the response to the president’s speech was positive, with laughter and clapping.



But on the street, reactions were mixed.



“I am happy the president is here,” said Abdul Malik, 40, a resident of Lashkar Gah. “He should see with his own eyes how the situation is. Things are bad even in the city. We do not feel secure. I hope Karzai brings changes.”



Atta Mohammad, 20, was not so gracious. “Just visiting is not going to help,” he said. “It’s good we have him here today, but I would like him to make Helmand stable.”



Ahmad Shah, 22, a baker, was irritated at losing business due to Karzai’s visit.



“I wasn’t able to open my bread shop today,” he complained. “Because of Karzai, all the roads were closed. We don’t need him to come here, as he won’t change a thing. We need the prosecutor down here; he should come and fire all the corrupt officials.



“I wasn’t able to sell any bread at all today.”



IWPR is conducting a journalism training and reporting project in Helmand. This story is a compilation of reports from participants.