General Abdu Raziq turned to be a combination of extremes.
In his life Mr Achakzai was disliked by many; but in his death he was revered
from an ordinary Afghan to President of Afghanistan – at least publically.
The life and career of Abdu Raziq – who rose from a border
boy using push cart for crossing smuggled goods to the position of the General -
is also quite interesting.
The entire life of this young man was, no doubt, a true story
of hard struggle, raw bravery and deprivation and highlights of successes and
failures.
Achakzai; who died with his boots on as a national hero; was the most
feared man not only for his opponents but also for government leaders, tribal
chieftains and his peers too. Some say the General was an illiterate man. He started
to earn at a very young age to feed his family that become refugees when soviet
entered Afghanistan.
There are also reports that before buying a handcart to
carry goods from Pakistan across the border to Afghanistan, Raziq used to work with
his uncle at a Tandoor –baking Afghan breads- at Pakistani border town Quetta. At
Tandoor he was tasked to count what locally was known as Afghani Naan or
koolchas.
However, the most credible accounts are that General Raziq
rose to the position of general - to be envied by many - from a handcart pusher
at Chaman-Spin Buldak border.
His main merchandize to be carried across the border in his four
wheelers was the wheat flour bags. Large number of young men and boys can still
be seen cress crossing the border, even today if one visit any of the border
point – may be Torkham or Chaman- facilitating pedestrians both men and women carrying
luggages, or even elderly, the patients or the small babies.
Following the fall of Taliban regime in Kabul, Gul Agha
Sherzai become governor of Kandahar. He was tasked to prepare a special police for
manning the border named as Afghan border police. The future Gen Raziq, then a
young man in his late twenties was inducted as a sepoy to watch and guard the
border along Spin Boldak.
Here his career begin and by sheer hard work, ruthlessness
and shrewdness, Raziq keeps on moving up the ladder. Those who know Raziq, said
as he got the position of a Colonel in ABP, without waiting for his orders of
his bosses in Kabul, he did not hesitate to declare himself as a full General.
Raziq not only got the highest rank in the security force,
but also earned a lot and become the wealthiest man having properties in India,
Dubai and reportedly in Turkey. And was now able to feed three wives and a
dozen kids along with his extended family of brothers and sisters.
As per local accounts, Raziq was feared by all. His
opponents – Taliban- preferred to move towards the northern and western provinces
of Afghanistan leaving the southern to avoid wrath of Gen Raziq. But others
like high government officers; ministers, elected members of parliament and leading
political leaders from Kandahar used to stay in Kabul instead being in Kandahar
and abused by the ‘powerful man’ in Gen Raziq.
President Ghani’s powers were tested in recent past when he
ordered removing two most powerful persons - the Governor of Bulkh Atta
Mohammad Noor and Gen Raziq. Though Raziq by designation was the provincial
police chief but practically he was the true ruler of Kandahar.
Atta was considered to be the most powerful man but the
president succeeded in removing him and sending his replacement. However, Dr
Ghani failed to replace Gen Raziq.
By the time Ghani orders (removing Raziq) reached Kandahar,
Raziq appeared on Afghan national media, to remind Ghani – Raziq’s president
and top boss – that he can’t remove him from the post because he was not
appointed by him (Ghani) but he earned the position by force. And Ghani
surrendered.
General Raziq was true in his words that the position of
Kandahar chief was earned by him bot given by government. On October 18,
General Raziq was killed in fatal attack at governor house compound after
surviving scores of suicide attacks. And interestingly, instead of appointing a
professional person to head the police in the crucial Kandahar province,
President Ashraf Ghani preferred the younger brother of General Raziq, Tadeen
to be the new chief of police force.
According to credible accounts, before joining the police
force as its top commander, Tadeen was doing his auto spare parts business at
Spin Boldak near Pak Afghan border.
Tadeen has neither formal education nor training in police force;
however, local influential people preferred him over other professional police
officers as head of the force.
These local influential leaders including Gul Agha Sherzai –
former governor – believed that by appointing Mr Tadeen they wanted to reward
Mr Raziq family for his ultimate sacrifice. However, those opposing the
decision believed the act is tantamount to declaring Kandahar police force as
personal force of Raziq Achakzai just like the one kept by the Mujahideen commanders
in the recent past.
The decision also reflects badly on Afghanistan over all
polity and governance structure. The US and international community have
invested billions of dollars over the years to build institutions following
fall of Taliban regime specially the national security forces of Afghanistan.
Likewise for the last almost 15 years regular elections are
held and there is functioning parliament. SO such decisions where the
professional forces is handed over to the untrained uneducated heirs manifest
the fact that Afghanistan is still far away from being a proper state where governance
is done through institutions not powerful individuals.
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