The 24th anniversary of the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud on September 9th is not merely a historical memory, but a time to remember the legacy that still defines Afghanistan’s political landscape and its fraught relationship with its neighbors, particularly Pakistan. Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir, was a military and political visionary whose battle against Soviet occupation and the Taliban had its roots in a distinct ideological vision of his nation. This vision, and its continuation, is what has been the key pillar of opposition against the present Taliban regime.

The legacy of Massoud continues to this day, through the National Resistance Front (NRF), a movement headed by his son, Ahmad Massoud. As his contemporaries tended to seek power by means of limited ethnic or tribal identities, Massoud proclaimed a multi-ethnic, decentralized Afghanistan, with a modern economy and a democratic base. The same blueprint has become the proclaimed ideology of the NRF that promotes a Swiss model of governance to offer a structural resolution to the long-standing history of internal fragmentation in Afghanistan.

The death of Ahmad Shah Massoud was a direct result of his diplomatic work to alert the world to the danger of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. On September 9, 2001, two days before the 9/11 attacks, Massoud was assassinated by two al-Qaeda agents who were disguised as journalists. It is believed that the timing was a strategic act of incapacitating the Northern Alliance before the attention of the world shifted to Afghanistan.

The historical background proves that the resistance of Massoud was never an internal matter. His existence and the strength of the Northern Alliance were directly intertwined with the geopolitical alignments of the time. His international coalitions, formed on mutual resistance to the Taliban and its fundamentalist ideology, as well as the external support base, were essential in keeping his battle against a seemingly insurmountable adversary.

The most complicated aspect of his legacy, perhaps, is its continuously shifting association with Pakistan. Over decades, the movement led by Massoud was in a clear contrast with Pakistan, which continued to support his opponents, such as the Pashtun ruler Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and, finally, the Taliban. The Pakistani plan was simple: to place a compliant, Pashtun-dominant government in Kabul that would act in its interests in the region. A potential shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy today can be seen as a profound re-evaluation of Pakistan’s strategic interests.

Pakistan has long supported the Taliban in the name of regulating its western frontier and having a friendly government in Kabul. The existing relationship between the Taliban government in Afghanistan and Pakistan has, however, grown tense, especially because the Taliban perceived unwillingness to stop the operations of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Afghan land. The TTP represents a serious security burden to Pakistan, causing more border tension and violence.

The life of Ahmad Shah Massoud was a long struggle to secure the independence of Afghanistan. His demise did not stop that struggle; it changed it. The NRF, as his legacy, still confronts the status quo, and it is that legacy of persistent resistance that renders the struggle over the future of Afghanistan a form of geopolitical business that is both continuing and profoundly consequential. The lesson to be learned from Masoud’s legacy for Afghanistan today is to combat the racism that plagues its society.

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