Nabil, Afghan politician, apologizes to people, breaking political silence
Rahmatullah Nabil, former head of Afghanistan’s National Security, admitted in his latest interview to what is perceived as a failure by politicians in the pursuit of “nation-building” and has stepped forward to apologize to the Afghan people.
His apology to the people has been accompanied by widespread support on social media platforms, breaking the longstanding silence of politicians that prevented them from acknowledging their mistakes.
The former head of Afghanistan’s National Security, speaking on Monday, February 12th, in an interview with Afghanistan International, stated, “We couldn’t hand over a better country to the next generation,” and therefore “we must apologize to the people.”
In his interview as a politician, he apologized to the people of Afghanistan and added that other statesmen should also follow suit in accepting their mistakes and apologizing to the people because, according to him, without identifying and healing the “wounds,” charting the path of “nation-building” would be challenging.
Mr. Nabil, as the first politician to apologize to the people for failure in the pursuit of “nation-building” after the collapse of the republic, also urged Pashtun and Tajik statesmen, who he said were in power for the past twenty years, to apologize to the other ethnic groups and the people of Afghanistan.
He stated, “Pashtun political elites should stand up and apologize to Hazara, Nuristani, and Pashayi people [because] they failed to present a formula to lead Afghanistan towards nation-building.”
The tradition of apology among Afghan politicians is almost unfamiliar, and Mr. Nabil’s initiative to accept mistakes and apologize to the people has been accompanied by widespread acceptance among civil society activists, politicians, and social media users.
Dr. Zekria Ehsan, a university professor and political activist on the X social network, described Nabil’s action as “courageous” and added: “This kind of courage sows the seeds of hope for a better tomorrow. Acknowledging mistakes and shortcomings is the first step towards correcting past mistakes. Perhaps Mr. Nabil will be the founder of this respected tradition among political elites who had a presence in political power.”
Some users, however, have approached this issue with scepticism and raised questions in this regard, wondering if politicians’ apologies suffice.
Sima Nouri, a social activist on the X social network, raises important questions regarding the recent apology from Rahmatullah Nabil. She questions whether an apology alone is sufficient, and if there will be genuine reflection and learning from past mistakes by Nabil and his former colleagues. Nouri also wonders whether this apology signifies a positive change or merely an empty gesture, prompting further scrutiny of the situation.
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