By Jamil Danish

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Not all Kuchis live in tents and roam the high plains of Afghanistan. Some, like Daud, have escaped their traditional nomadic existence and begun new lives in towns and cities within Afghanistan or overseas.

Photo by Jamil Danish

Daud currently rents a big house in the Hayat Abad district of Peshawar, while his mother and three brothers live in London and were granted British citizenship three years ago. His two daughters have a comfortable life – spared the harsh existence that he experienced as a young Kuchi on the road.

It’s a far cry from his life 14 years ago, when Daud and his family lived in great hardship at a time when Afghanistan was in civil war and the Taliban were on the verge of taking power and imposing their hardline Islamic ideals on the country.

“I am very happy that my brothers and my mother were granted British citizenship. God bless them,” he said, adding that after receiving the good news: “We slaughtered a sheep, cut it up and distributed portions to poor people.” 

It was the culmination of a long journey that began in 1998, when Daud’s brother Qasim fled to Pakistan to escape persecution by the Taliban. The family sold their land and cattle to raise the money to get Qasim into Britain – they paid 900,000 Pakistani rupees (US$13,000) to smugglers.

Once Qasim had been given a four-year visa, he brought over his mother and two youngest brothers – both are now studying in British state schools, while Qasim works as a cab driver in the British capital. He also sends business Daud’s way in Pakistan.

“Qasim sent me two turbo trucks from Holland. I took delivery of them in [the western Afghanistan city of] Herat, finished the paperwork with the customs and now they are ready to be sold,” Daud said, adding that he stood to make a handsome profit of US$30,000.

The money will be invested in Britain. “We will buy a house as well as a shop in London in the near future,” explained the young Kuchi businessman, who makes his money in Afghanistan but spends most of his time in Pakistan.   

“We do not have problems in Pakistan,” he said, adding: “We have electricity round the clock, there is good security and nobody cares about what we do here.” 
He compared life in Pakistan to the hard years of Taliban rule, when men were forced to grow beards, harsh Islamic laws were rigorously applied, music and other entertainment was banned and women were closeted for most of the time in their houses.

Daud is clearly still bitter about the Taliban, who were overthrown by the United States-backed Northern Alliance in late 2001. “The Taliban were very ignorant and uneducated people, they changed our whole country into an unprecedented disaster area.” 

During the movement’s harsh rule females were virtually treated like second-class citizens, barred from a proper education and employment and forced to wear the head-to-toe burqa. Daud’s young daughter Naghma has escaped such a fate, dressing in colourful saris and playing unbothered in a local park.

Daud says he always managed to resist joining the Taliban. In one of life’s ironies, his cousin was sucked in and ignored Daud’s advice to quit. “He did not listen to me,” Daud said, adding: “Now he is having harsh life. He is fed up with the Taliban and wishes he could leave for London too.” 

But back in Afghanistan, life is still hard for most of the country’s estimated Kuchis, an ethnically Pashtun tribe of nomads. While some have broken into commerce, the Kuchis as a whole are regarded by the United Nations and aid agencies as one of the largest vulnerable populations in the country.

And the Taliban are still causing trouble for everyone, including the foreign troops that were sent to help rebuild the country and protect the government that replaced them.

Saturday, January 30, 2010: Today, Professor Lia Gladstone and her students at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) organized the first-ever performance by AUAF students. The show included a number of performances including a play, monologues, poems, and story-telling. The performances covered a range of issues the Afghan society is faced with including lack of motivation for individual social responsibility, corruption, drugs and crime, gender-based violence, war and conflict, and a number of other issues.

 The conference room was packed with people from within and outside the AUAF community. The audience admired the students for the job they did. The show was organized by the fall semester students of Creative Writing course taught by Professor Lia Gladstone. Professor Gladstone is Assistant Professor of English and Drama at the AUAF. 

 Photos by Jamil Danish

By Munir Ahmad 

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) invites students of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) to host and comment on variety of issues and current affairs during its live programs on hot topics related to Afghanistan. 

Photo by Abrahim Rasouli

The BBC is calling for young educated Afghans to have their say on issues that matter most in their daily lives and the future of Afghanistan. 

Jafar Hussaini, Munir Ahmad, and Abdul Jamil Danish, undergraduate students of AUAF, are regular participants of different live programs broadcasted via the BBC World Service. They have been providing comprehensive comments on relevant topics concerning Afghanistan and international community. 

Abdul Jamil Danish, who has extensive experience in news and media, has hosted live radio show programs on many different local and international radio stations in Afghanistan. This experience includes his own radio show, which is broadcast every Saturday morning on the National Radio of Afghanistan .This program is called, “Afghanistan Today”. Mr. Danish also produces daily radio podcasts about Afghanistan for the United Nations Radio in New York. 

In an exclusive interview with BBC on Monday, Mr. Danish provided commentary on what people hope for 2010 as well as what changes have come to the lives of people since the latest controversial elections and US troops surge in Afghanistan. 

On August 19, 2009, just one day before the presidential election, Mr. Danish represented the American University of Afghanistan, on the BBC World Service, broadcast from Afghanistan. 

“I feel excited and happy to tell stories about Afghanistan to the world” Danish told about his experience being interviewed at one of the world’s best-known media corporations, “this is a great opportunity for AUAF students to demonstrate their talents and say what they hope and think about their future and Afghanistan’s.” 

These programs encourage students to prepare themselves for radio commentary programs and help them learn about politics and other related issues.
You can download the latest BBC podcast on Afghanistan and listen to the views of AUAF students. 

Photo by Jamil Danish

A woman is a wonderful creature that brings beauty, happiness and joy to life. If that beauty is neglected and suppressed, life becomes dull and colorless. It would be hard to imagine life without a woman as it would be hard to imagine it without a man. Women are the masterpiece of God’s creation. When a man and a woman walk alongside, they can reach their maximum potential because they compliment each other. Some say that a woman should stay at home and take care of her household. It is assumed that woman are there to serve the needs of a man. This assumption might be based on the fact that women are physically weaker than men. It is assumed that being physically weak makes woman weak and incapable overall. Physical weakness of  a woman in comparison to a man does not imply that a woman’s qualities are all weak. On the contrary, physical weakness stresses the distinct quality of women being delicate and feminine. This femininity is a marvelous gift given to a woman by her Creator that makes her distinctive and delightful. Often, instead of cherishing woman’s femininity, men use their physical strength to control and abuse women. By doing so, men depreciate the exclusive value of femininity of women and their own value of manhood. A man’s manhood is displayed by his protection and care of his gentler partner. Appreciation and utilization of women’s feminine virtue, deep care and feminine wisdom would have contributed greatly to the welfare of Afghan society.

Women are distinctive because of their feminine virtue. The supporters of the idea that women should stay in the house state that a woman’s beauty is the source of temptation to a man. They argue that women should hide from the eyes of unrelated men. If that statement was reasonable, then we probably should hide food from the eyes of gluttons, and wealth from the eyes of greedy. Hiding the object of lust from the eyes of the obsessed does not solve the problem of lust. It actually intensifies it even more. The problem of lust has to be overcome by both men and women by a commitment to purity. Purity is a state of mind and heart. It takes character and discipline to attain it.

Women care deeply because they have gentle and compassionate hearts. They are prone to loving selflessly. They are capable of great courage because they care deeply. In everyday life women make selfless choices for the sake of their loved ones. Supporters of the idea that women must stay in the house say that it helps women to be protected from the world that is evil. Just the other way round, women could have contributed greatly to making the world a better, safer place. If women were allowed to take part in social life, they would have been capable to care deeply for their nation. There is a great example of that in the history of Afghanistan. Malalai is a famous Afghan woman who helped to win the battle of Maiwand during the war with the British. She was an ordinary Afghan woman. Her father was a shepherd. She was engaged and soon to be married. On July 27th 1880 she went to battle along with her father and fiancée to help the wounded. During the battle Afghan soldiers began to lose heart. It seemed evident that the British will win the battle. When Malalai saw this, she could not stand still. She shouted “Young love! If you do not fall in the battle of Maiwand, By God, someone is saving you as a symbol of shame!” These words gave courage to Afghan soldiers, and they intensified their efforts. At that moment, one of the soldiers who bore the Afghan flag fell from a British bullet. Malalai run up to him; put up the flag and started to sing: “With a drop of my sweetheart’s blood, shed in defense of the Motherland, will I put a beauty spot on my forehead, such as would put to shame the rose in the garden.” While singing, Malalai was knocked down by a bullet. Afghan soldiers were greatly encouraged by her words, and made a move ahead relentlessly. Soon the British were defeated. And that was the biggest victory of Afghan army during Second Afghan war. The king Ayub Khan gave an award to Malalai. She was buried in her village Khig, nearby Maiwand battlefield. Malalai’s courageous act left imperishable memories in the history of Afghanistan. She became an Afghan heroine. Schools and hospitals have been named after her. She loved her people so much, that she was willing to lay down her life for them. That is greatest love when someone lays down one’s life for others. Woman is capable of that love and courage if she is given freedom to express her deep care. Her tender and compassionate heart can impel her to great actions. All the restrictions that are imposed on Afghan woman kill her spirit and self-esteem. They form a belief in her mind that she does not have a right to care. They deprive her of her right to dream of a bright future for her people.

The inner qualities inhering in women enable them to attain feminine wisdom. Gail Straub in her new book, “Returning to My Mother’s House: Taking Back the Wisdom of the Feminine” calls these qualities “deep intuition, emotional intelligence and the capacity to cultivate an ‘inner’ life.” These are distinctive feminine qualities. If they are used properly, they can bring fulfillment and happiness to women. Gail Straub says in her book: “I think that female wisdom, philosophically, suggests a paradigm where we embrace the ‘other,’ where we live in a world where we’re saying, ‘I may have a different political or philosophical or spiritual position, but I can listen to you. I can reconcile those opposites. So in my view, female wisdom has the capacity to appreciate differences, to respect differences.” She suggests that woman has the ability to reconcile. This is exactly what the world needs. Afghanistan is in dire need for reconciliation. People are tired of war, but find it difficult to reconcile within. If the feminine wisdom was not neglected, it would have contributed to attaining peace in Afghanistan.

It is true that the feminine qualities are not being evident in many women today. There are understandable reasons for that. Women have responded differently towards the demands of the society. Some women have rejected their femininity, and accepted masculine qualities because they promise outward success. Some lost their self-esteem, and accepted the role of being weak, incapable, and insignificant females. Others became defensive, and turned to what is known as feminism. They decided to fight for their rights in order to gain self-esteem. Sad part is that they do it at the expense of their femininity. They want to prove that they are just like men. But the beautiful part of being women is that they are not just like men. They are different from men in a wonderful way. Men’s wisdom is not complete without feminine wisdom. Afghanistan needs women and their wisdom. The society has to accept women’s feminine qualities. Women can not discover the world if they stay behind the walls of their house. If the society allows women the freedom to discover themselves and the world, it may discover great power and wisdom that will contribute to the prosperity of Afghanistan.

Sources:

Momand, Wahid. “Malalai of Maiwand.” Afghanland.com. 2000. 10 May 2009 .
Straub, Gail. Returning to My Mother’s House: Taking Back the Wisdom of the Feminine. High Point, 2008. 10 May 2009 .

Since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, the Afghan government has been trying to rebuild and run a country, which has almost nothing to be recovered except few destroyed buildings, non-functioning systems, institutions and poor-stricken population. Notwithstanding, the government capitalized on the post Bonne-agreement political achievements, and with generous support from the international community managed to establish institutions and reconstructed ministries including a dedicated Ministry for Women Affairs. On the ground some improvements include the establishment and renovation of over thousands health facilities, between 2001 and 2007, and increased primary education enrollment reaching a record of over four millions in 2005. Huge amounts of money are invested in the construction of roads and other transport infrastructure, economic growth, and the formation of state security forces.

Photo by David Shaw

The achievements that were made have not yet met the expectations of the general public. According to a report of Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief, a total of $25 billion was committed in foreign aid to Afghanistan between 2002 and 2008; of which only $15 billion has been delivered up to date. Where and how it spends; asks every Afghan, who seems less informed about the difference between commitment and delivery of aid as well as how the whole dynamics of an aid economy affecting their lives. Praful Patel, South Asia Regional Vice-President of the World Bank, said at Afghanistan’s Development Forum (ADF) held in Kabul, that the coordination of aid to Afghanistan has been poor. He confirmed that in spite of $1.6 billion invested on capacity building, two-thirds of all development expenditure in Afghanistan bypassed the government’s systems, with corruption and lacks of capacity the main reasons. Many government employees have umpteen numbers of certificates from different types of trainings, which are not often related to their jobs. Sayeed Ismail Agha, Head of Human Resource Department at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kabul said: “each year we add piles of certificates to the personal files of staff but without any improvement in the performance of employees.”

Furthermore, there is not a system to ensure the transparency of aid in Afghanistan, mainly due to the inability of the government to set up effective mechanisms to hold the donors mutually accountable. The Afghanistan Compact benchmarks indicate 77 measurable benchmarks only for Afghan government, whereas none can be found to hold the donors to be accountable. Former Finance Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady, said: “We are accountable for only US$3.7 billion of the US$12.8 billion of aid money that has been spent in the country in the last five years; the rest has been spent by donors themselves.” who is then responsible to monitor the rest of the money is spent and where it ends up.

Patrick Cockburn in the Ugly Truth about Foreign Aid in Afghanistan: Kabul’s New Elite, article stated that “foreign consultants get $250,000 typical annual salary (including 35 percent hardship allowances) compared to $1,000 typical annual salary of Afghan civil servants”. He adds that “40 percent share of international aid budget is returned to aid countries in corporate profit and consultant salaries – more than $6bn since 2001.” (Independent UK. May 2009)

Finally, this blame-game between the international community and Afghan government is perceived as lack of competence, lack of ability and lack of good will on both sides. If the agenda of reconstruction in Afghanistan has ever to succeed, few immediate steps can be considered to have better effective aid mechanisms. Primarily the donors and Afghan government should harmonize and align their agendas to the needs of the Afghan people. Then empowerment and capacity building programs must be tailored according to what make the government’s employees able to achieve to their actual goal and duty that they are accountable and responsible for. And the government must consider a external national effectiveness body or entity which potentially oversees the national development budget that are implemented by government, local and international’s agencies program implementation process.

*Author Lida: Student of American University of Afghanistan

*Co Author Salem Ibrahimi: Student of American University of Afghanistan

1Women and Men in Afghanistan 2008

2Women and Men in Afghanistan 2008

3Afghanistan’s Development Forum 2007.Kabul

4Personal Interview

Photo Courtesy of Ali Omid

Photo By S. R.

Photo by Fardin Waezi

21 October 2009 – Afghanistan taekwondo athlete Mahmood Haidary won on Sunday the silver medal at the World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

This October 2009 Wold Taekwondo event was the largest world championship ever for the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). Afghanistan also won the bronze medal in the championships which saw 929 athletes from 142 countries participating.

“My silver medal is for my people and my country – it was a pride that I kept the Afghan flag raised all through the end of the game,” said the silver medalist, Mahmood Haidary who is preparing to secure a gold medal at 2012 world championship in London.

“I love Taekwondo! I will join the club as soon as I am four,” said a three year old Afghan boy, who was accompanying his father to greet Mahmood Haidary at the airport today.

A few months ago at the Korean Taekwondo Championship, Mahmood Haidary also won a gold medal, beating America, China, Jordan, Korea and the Philippines.

“I am very proud of our sons; Mahmood Haidary showed the world that Afghans have talents if they are given the chance,” said, Ms. Aziza a high school teacher in Kabul.

At the fist Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok in August this year, Afghanistan secured five medals, including one gold medal by Nisar Ahmad Bahawi. One of the bronze medals was won by a young girl, twenty year old Shafiqa Kargar.

At the 2008 Beijing Games, Rohullah Nikpai, 21, earned Afghanistan’s first-ever medal in taekwondo in the country’s 72-year Olympic history.

In 2007 Nisar Ahmad Bahawi,a gold medal winner, became the world’s number two champion in Taekwondo competing at the World Champion Beijing 2007 competition where he beat rivals from Russia, America, Kuwait, China, Lebanon and Iran.

Taekwondo is one of Afghanistan’s most popular sports with more than 35,000 competitors across the country.