Farid Mazdak: The “Afghan-Melti” Project Led to the Emergence of the Taliban.
Farid Mazdak, a prominent figure in Afghanistan’s leftist movement, stated in a recent commentary that the ethnic nationalist movement known as “Afghan-Melti” was responsible for the formation of the Taliban, describing them as the violent and ruthless manifestation of this project.
He said that Afghan-Melti had hidden behind slogans of national unity, religion, history, and state for years, and now openly claims ethnic ownership over the country and power.
This movement regards the country as “ours,” calls its identity the “national identity,” and allows others only two options: submission or elimination.
In this discourse, the concept of equal citizenship no longer exists; the debate centers on the monopoly of territory, power, and identity.
Mazdak considers Afghanistan’s current situation the result of over a century of monopoly, coercion, and imposed identity, rather than a sudden event or conspiracy.
He asserts that the Taliban are merely the external, violent face of this long-standing nationalist project.
The leftist leader further warns that standing against this dangerous project is not a luxury political choice but a moral duty, emphasizing that silence in the face of Afghan-Melti nationalism is not neutrality but complicity with oppression and exclusion.
