Excerpt from Engineer Fazel Ahmed Afghan's speech at the Conference for Peace in Afghanistan in Hayward, CA, USA, January 2, 2010.

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PEACE PLAN TO EXTINGUISH THE IMPOSED ABLAZED FIRE IN AFGHANISTAN.

Dear learned and intellectual fellow Afghans,

I am honoured to be standing here at such a valuable and timely conference with the opportunity to present a plan for peace for our motherland Afghanistan.

Due to time constraint, I am not intending to describe the events of the last 31 years in Afghanistan in detail. However, I only briefly mention that the bloody coup de tat of April 27, 1978 marked the beginning of the miseries  our society has endeared over the years along with the ignition of flames of war that has transformed our mother land into a blood bath with the bloodshed of her innocent children and created a path of destruction which has flattened innocent homes.  Though three decades of such pain and suffering have passed, the flames of such fire have been on the rise due to the continuation of war and terror with the oppressed people of Afghanistan marching in darkness towards an unknown future.

Eight years ago with the commencement of the Bonn Conference, the people of Afghanistan were given a glimmer of hope with the establishment of first a temporary and transitional government and then an elected President that the people were looking to for a free and prosperous country.  Despite all their hopes and dreams, the social, economical, political and national security situations in Afghanistan did not materialize nor stabilize as expected.

Once again in 2009, the oppressed people of Afghanistan who were counting on transparency in the second term Presidential elections, in order to find an elected leader and saviour for the nation who could eliminate their miseries and put their country once again on the forgotten path of prosperity were disappointed and unfortunately witnessed the “re-appointment” of President Hamid Karzai as the outcome of a shameful election resulting from fraudulent acts, corruption and negotiations with foreign powers behind closed doors.

Their hopes and aspirations vanished into thin air with the realization that they would have to live with the same old administration for the next five-year term and that their destiny would be in the hands of foreign sponsors and President Karzai who would be dining at the same table with an administration that includes certain human rights violators, corrupted warlords and narcotic farmers.  In effect, the status quo and the dyer situations of the past 30 years are deemed to prevail.

Dear brothers and sisters, as the brave Afghan nation has moved beyond but not to be forgotten results of the second term Presidential elections with the knowledge of involvement and negative influence of the corrupt and ill willed as noted above that were the source of creating and imposing an unqualified regime in our dear country, it is now our Islamic, patriotic, national and conscience responsibility as intellectuals to take urgent, positive and effective action to save and bring back our motherland to the once free nation which we inherited from our ancestors.

This sacred dream can only be realized when our patriotic, civil and  religious intellectuals who are the anchor of hope for the orphans, widows, disabled, homeless, the ills who live with hunger, poverty and insecurity inside Afghanistan and for those Afghan refugees who live in the camps and slums of Iran and Pakistan take action without prejudice and discrimination.  For the sake of God and in recognition and honour of the millions of martyrs who lost their lives for our country, our dignity, righteousness and fight for freedom; lets set aside our selfishness, thirst for power, worshiping personalities; and instead I urge you to fill your hearts with love of patriotism, the worship of God and to work together for the good of our Afghan nation, our neighbours and the world.

This would involve us working in cooperation with serious and honest intent and coming together in unity with the might of an iron fist to identify solutions that would end our countries on going crisis.  Working together here in a peaceful and productive environment with the goal of reaching a working resolution and plan that would be proposed as an "Afghan Peace Initiative" at the upcoming International Conference in London and an Inter-Afghan Conference in Kabul.

Such a proposal involving solutions to current issues facing Afghanistan need to be considered in the context of both domestic and international parameters with appropriate resolutions being brought forth so that we can by the will of God and respect for Islamic values save our homeland from occupation and transform it to a free, independent and prosperous country that supports peace, security and the rule of law.

We therefore need to present this “Afghan Peace Initiative”, for consideration first at the prospective International Conference to be convened in London this month through the office of the United Nations.  After review and consideration of the proposed plan and in light of the decisions and conclusions of the said International Conference, the proposal should be discussed in an Inter-Afghan Conference in Kabul prior to the Grand Assembly (Loya Jirga) proposed by President Karzai, which would include a legitimate group of Afghan representatives but excluding those who have caused bloodshed and been involved with the violation of Human Rights.  With the goal to emerge from the above Afghan conference with decisions and a clear path that will save our motherland from the ongoing crisis and create a national government that will bring peace to our beloved nation.

Thereby with your permission, the honorable dignitaries and patriots, brothers and sisters I would like to share with you my views for your consideration as we set forward today to bring together a peace plan to be discussed at the International as well as at the proposed Inter Afghan Conference.