Afghanistan is on the verge of achieving a comprehensive development renaissance

Shah Do Shamshera, Kabul, Afghanistan (Shutterstock)

Following my visit to Afghanistan last month, I encountered surprising reactions to my series of articles.

In fact, in these articles I sought to convey developments and positions that can be easily followed through open sources, as an eyewitness to the events.

It seems that readers' astonishment results from a wrong perception of Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban, as some believe that they are merely militants who do not have educational qualifications, vision, morals, or skills in managing the state, but the Taliban, as their name suggests, is a student union;

That is, their profession is study, knowledge, science, and education.

The word "Taliban" is the plural of the word "talib" in the Pashto language.

Afghanistan was not expected to offer anything significant to the Western world, due to its relentless war against the United States for 20 years, and its isolated lifestyle before that.

But, as I said before, Afghanistan deserves all attention and appreciation, thanks to the peace and stability it achieved throughout the country, through the general amnesty it announced after assuming power, after all those long bloody conflicts.

After all, Afghan society is a very traditional society, where customs - especially blood feud - are widespread and strong.

In such a society, it is not easy for the state to declare a general amnesty, let alone implement it.

The state’s declaration of amnesty contradicts the customs, traditions and customs of the people, which makes confronting resistance almost impossible.

The state may declare amnesty, but people continue to follow their customs and insist on taking revenge, which leads to the cycle of violence and war continuing without end.

But the Taliban leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, was able to apply the amnesty through a short text that was inspired by the action of the Holy Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - upon the conquest of Mecca.

This text had a stronger impact than all traditions, customs and customs, which led to the application of amnesty on the ground.

In fact, the provisions of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly affect all traditions that contradict Islam. There are many customs and traditions that contradict Islamic law, oppress women and do not grant any rights or law. These customs are very influential in Afghan society.

But these traditions are now subject to the law of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which leads to their application in general for the benefit of the people, and in particular for the benefit of women.

These are important details that cannot be seen by those who only look through the stereotypes produced by the Western media on the issue of women's education.

In addition, the situation regarding women's education is not at all what is thought.

We have learned that there are serious preparations to establish a system for educating girls at university.

For the first time in 45 years, Afghanistan is witnessing an environment of stability and peace across the country.

One of the most prominent results of this stability is the launch of a serious development campaign in the country, as news continues of investments that can only be achieved with the presence of a strong and stable central government.

I had mentioned in previous articles that Afghanistan is waiting for foreign investors.

In fact, while foreign investors are still hesitant;

Due to the ambiguity of Afghanistan's UN recognition protocols, the Afghan government has begun to accelerate its own investments.

The Qushtayba Canal project is not without some tensions with neighboring countries, due to the lack of water that will flow to these countries.

But the biggest challenge remains Afghanistan's ability to manage this huge project through a strong and stable government

One of the simple, tangible results of fighting corruption in Afghanistan is improving the effective use of the state budget.

Recently, Afghanistan was able to pay all its electrical debts to neighboring countries for the first time in its history.

As part of the positive developments in Afghanistan, 6 new oil wells were drilled in the Amu Darya field, which led to an increase in the daily production level to 1,350 tons.

Thus, there are now 24 oil wells ready for production.

Moreover, new oil fields were discovered in many other areas.

Thanks to these developments, Afghanistan is moving rapidly towards joining the list of oil-producing countries.

As we mentioned previously, human resources are one of Afghanistan's most important strengths.

We have suggested that labour-intensive investments, such as textile investments or agriculture and animal husbandry, could be directed into the country to take advantage of these resources.

The project to build a huge dam on the Oxus River - which is being built at a rapid pace - indicates that Afghanistan will witness a development renaissance much faster than expected.

The Qushtayba Canal Project has been a great dream and hope for all Afghans, especially the people of the northern provinces, for a long time.

Thanks to the Islamic Emirate’s establishment of stability and security in the country, this dream is close to being realized.

With the completion of this project, the arid desert in northern Afghanistan will be transformed into fertile agricultural lands and thriving industrial areas.

The project depends on transferring about 650 cubic meters of water per second from the Oxus River to the desert of the provinces of Balkh, Jawzjan, and Faryab, which will transform 300,000 hectares of desert into fertile agricultural land.

The width of the canal is on average 100 metres, its depth is 8.5 metres, and the height of the water is 6.5 metres.

The canal begins from the Oxus River in the Galdar region of Balkh Province, passing through the desert of the Galadar region, and intersects with the “Haratan - Mazar-i-Sharif” road.

It is expected that the first phase of the project will be completed within approximately 6 months.

This project can be considered as the “Southeastern Anatolian Project” (GAP) of Afghanistan.

The Qushtayba Canal project is not without some tensions with neighboring countries, due to the lack of water that will flow to these countries.

But the biggest challenge remains Afghanistan's ability to manage this huge project through a strong and stable government.

In fact, these developments indicate who was responsible for delaying the development of a country rich in history and culture, in the heart of Central Asia, with very strong potential, in terms of human resources, groundwater and water resources, and strategic location.

In 40 years, the occupiers did not provide any beneficial investment to the country other than creating 4 million drug addicts, but now with the country returned to its rightful owners, Afghanistan is on the verge of a comprehensive development renaissance.

But I do not know whether this news is good or bad news for those who constantly talk about Afghan immigrants.

It is clear that the internal peace and economic growth increasing day by day in Afghanistan indicate that the migration of the Afghan people will stop completely, and there may even be a reverse migration to Afghanistan.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.