by Faird Behbud
KABUL, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The International Day of Peace, sometimes unofficially known as the World Peace Day, is observed annually on Sept. 21 around the world. But the day was welcomed by Afghans as a dream while the people in the war-torn country are fed up with such a miserable life resulted from the long-protracted insurgency.
The day was marked in Afghanistan but the militants fighting the government including Taliban insurgents have time and again rejected any peace deal with the government or conditioned it to the full withdrawal of foreign troops.
All peace efforts in the past years by the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) have come to nowhere, as fighting continues.
Kabul University student Mansoor Abidi said that peace restoration in the country would help strengthen the stability of the region and the world.
Failure of the peace process in Afghanistan over the past more than 16 years, as the Kabul University student said, have many reasons to blame such as prevailing corruption, dissatisfaction from the government, poverty, unemployment and worst of all foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country.
"I am willing to live in a peaceful environment, go to university without feeling threats, and don't experience the killings of the youths, women, and children even a single Afghan in any of part of my country," Abidi told Xinhua. He believed all the goals could be reached through a firm government plan to overcome the challenges.
Frustrated with the prolonged war and insecurity in the country, another Kabul resident Farishta Hayati said that if the international community honestly supports peace process in Afghanistan, she had no doubt that peace would come to her country.
Chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) Mohammad Karim Khalili said his office had done a lot for peace since his taking over of the office.
"Peace is a regional and international need and we have to reach the goal," Khalili told a meeting to mark the peace day on Thursday in Kabul.
"I am optimistic about peace and security in my country if the international community fully supports the process. It enables me and other women to continue working for the governmental and non-governmental organizations and the girls to go to schools without fear and dread," resident Hayati said.
The theme for this year's International Day of Peace is "Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All" with a particular focus on the plight of refugees and migrants throughout the world.
