1. Cleric Maulana Ziaur Rahman Allahyar:
Allah says in the Holy Quran: “All Muslim are brothers, make peace between brothers.” In the absence of this blessing, no headway is possible in education, military, economic and social spheres. All Muslims, particularly the Afghans, are obliged to contribute to the restoration of security.
2. Resident Khyber Dagar:
1. Provincial council member Ismatullah:
Both sides are using the peace process as a tool of propaganda. If the militants do not want to reconcile, the government should take the nation into confidence. The process has to be led by influential and credible public representatives.
2. University student Rahimullah Andar:
1. Writer and journalist Mohammad Ilyas Dayee:
Absent a regional consensus on the need for security, establishing peace will be difficult in Afghanistan. The countries involved in meddling in our homeland must be convinced that peace in Afghanistan will promote their economic and political interest. There is a need to work at the international level.
2. Garmser resident Akhtar Mohammad:
1. Schoolteacher Shukria Yousafi:
Peace and reconciliation guides a society in the right direction. As we have seen, the absence of peace undermines political stability and relations with neighbours and hence the need for sustained security.
2. Head of Committee for Protection of Women’s JournalistAwranoos Oneeb:
Peace and security, a natural human need, enables a society to attain progress. Decades of war, making security a distant dream, have thrown the need for peace in bold relief.
1. Grower Najibullah:
The people of Kunduz are in dire need of stability because they have suffered a lot due to the conflict. Farmers’ crops are torched as a result of war between the two sides that forcibly collect Zakat and Ushr from them. In peacetime, farmers will never face such challenges.
2. School student Sibghatullah:
1. Sheikh Zayed University student Amanullah:
The United States and Pakistan hold the key to stability in Afghanistan. If they want, peace will come automatically to Afghanistan, where insecurity intensified as a result of wilful night-time raids in rural areas. If the Taliban are recognised as political force, they should be given a share in power.
2. Schoolteacher Zareef Khan:
1. Tribal council chief Sheikh Mahsal Khan:
Life comes to a standstill in a society where there is no peace. Looking at its resources, the government should step up the reconciliation campaign.
2. Shopkeeper Mohammad Humayun Haqbin:
The government should reform itself and apply the law to all and sundry; peace will happen automatically.
3. Youth Society head Sherzad Sapi:
1: Provincial Council Chairman Haji Malik Nazir:
Being a blessing, peace is a global need, as its absence means no security, no schools, no education and no decency in society. It’s important and we have to work for it.
2. Khogyani resident Aimal Marwand:
Peace is a prerequisite for progress, economic growth and public order. In areas plagued by insecurity, there are no schools and the people are jobless and poor.
3. Student Fawad Akbarzada:
1. University student Ali Naveed:
A vital need for human beings, peace has enabled us to focus on education. In its absence, life is crippled.
2. Farmer Mohammad Hussain:
Bringing hope to life, peace has imbued us with a sense of security over the past 14 years. We have been doing our daily chores. A life without peace is devoid of meaning.
3. University student Fatima Nekzad:
1. Tribal elder Abdul Bari Bawar:
Peace is unlikely because a number of elements whom the insurgents are still fighting against are holding high government positions. In their presence, rebel leaders are unwilling to return to Afghanistan or halt fighting. To hoodwink the masses, the government and its foreign backers opened the High Peace Council a few years ago, just to give the impression that they are serious about stabilising Afghanistan.
2. Ex-provincial council chief Inrahim Akhundzada: