Ghani Rejects Taliban Amnesty, Says He Will Never Bow to Group

DID Press: Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, responding to Taliban statements about the possibility of his return under a general amnesty, said he does not need the group’s amnesty and that the Taliban should instead accept the vote of the Afghan people and apologize to the nation for the bloodshed of the past.

In a recent interview with the media, Ghani rejected Taliban statements that he could return to the country under a general amnesty, saying: “I have committed no crime that would require me to seek amnesty from the Taliban. We should all seek forgiveness from the Afghan people, rather than imposing ourselves on them.”

He held the Taliban responsible for the collapse of the government elected by the people and the deaths of thousands of Afghan security forces. He added that the group stopped fighting foreign forces under the Doha agreement but continued attacks against Afghan forces and eventually overthrew the government after successively capturing territory.

Ghani also called on the Taliban leader not to define Sharia according to his personal interpretation and urged the group to bring its conduct and decisions in line with actual Islamic legal standards. He stressed that instead of imposing an amnesty, the Taliban should choose the path of accepting the people’s vote; only then, he said, would the way forward for Afghanistan be cleared.

The former Afghan president concluded: “Even in 100 years, I will never come back and bow before the Taliban.”

Ghani fled Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, effectively handing power to the Taliban. The collapse of the Afghan government was not solely the result of Taliban military pressure, but also resulted from Ghani’s incompetence, political deal-making and irresponsible decisions. By leaving the country abruptly, he left security forces and civilians exposed to the Taliban and helped pave the way for the group’s rapid takeover of Kabul.

Ghani was himself one of the main factors behind the collapse of the Afghan government and bears historical responsibility toward the people and history of the country.