‘Terrorism’, Taliban and the tribal militia

December 2008 completes seven years of the Karzai reign; seven years since the Taliban has ostensibly been ousted. Yet for the past three years Afghanistan has been caught in an expanding spiral of violence that today threatens large sections of the Afghan population, the new institutions of state as well as development initiatives. It is a violence that is being increasingly felt in larger areas of neighbouring Pakistan and managed to strike India's financial capital in late November.

As Southasian governments attempt to tackle murderous attacks striking at the heart of densely populated cities against citizens, Afghanistan offers important lessons. Why has a combined effort by the world's largest superpower, the NATO countries and the Afghan government, involving both military might and billions of dollars, been unable to contain, let alone reverse the violence? Who is the Afghan government going to negotiate with as it attempts to talk to the 'Taliban'? At the heart of the issue that confronts the whole region is the central question: what is 'terrorism'? In focusing the battle against individuals like Osama bin Laden and groups like al-Qaeda or the Taliban, is the war against 'Talibanisation' itself being lost?