G20 Summit and Afghanistan

In my previous article, I have explained in detail the impacts of Global Financial crisis on Afghanistan. This article will analyse the importance of G-20 summit for Afghanistan.

As the World economy further gets victimised by the “economic monster” of modern capitalism and an increasing number of both developed and developing nations enter recession, it was obvious that G-20 summit in London will largely focus on tackling the economic slump. It has been over a week since the heads of state and governments of G-20 group gathered in London to seek solutions for the many economic challenges created by financial crises. Leaders of the world’s largest economies discussed plans to deal with the severe economic downturn, restore growth in the short term, reshape financial system, preserve global trading system, and laying foundations for a sustainable economic recovery.

Despite agreeing on some key points to restore confidence, growths, and jobs, strengthen financial supervision and regulation, fund and reform international financial institutions to overcome such crisis and prevent future ones, promote global trade and investment and reject protectionism, support sustainable recovery, the summit also agreed on providing $1.1 trillion in resources to the IMF and other international institutions to confront the economic crises. The figure includes an agreement to boost the IMF's lending resources from its current level of $250 billion to $750 billion while an additional $250 billion is allocated to boost World trade and $100 billion would be given in aid for developing countries.

Afghanistan would certainly be benefited directly and indirectly both in the long and short terms by the agreements made in the G-20 summit. Firstly, Afghanistan requires exactly the same parameters to economically grow and to have strong financial integrated markets. This may well be a long term goal but it would only be possible if the global economy is in good health. Secondly, there are now more funds available ($750bn) with international financial institutions and a small fraction of which can rescue Afghanistan in the time of need, in case the international community fails to finance Afghan government machinery, which is very unlikely, but that would be costly and tied with many unkind conditions. However, in the past six months many developing nations such as Ukraine, Hungary and Pakistan have turned to IMF for much needed funds despite many strict demands. Thirdly, the extra $100bn in aid for developing countries will help Afghanistan to continue with projects mostly financed by the International development and financial organisations such the World Bank, IMF, and Asian Development Bank. Fourthly and most importantly, Afghanistan is likely to benefit more from the promotion of global trade and investment than borrowing, charity or aid. The figure of $250 billion is set aside to boost World trade; however it is too early to comment on the share and nature of trade and investment promotion Afghanistan will receive.

In short, the G-20 summit would benefit the World’s economy and developing countries including Afghanistan to an extent but it would not find magic solutions within few months or perhaps few years. Nevertheless, the recovery of World’s economy will have two very important positive impacts on Afghanistan’s economy.

First – Private sector development, international trade and investment would grow again, and which is vital for a Self-sufficient Economy. In the initial euphoria after the fall of Taliban in 2001, private investment grew steadily to $1.2-billion in 2006. But it slid to $646-million in 2007 and has plummeted further to $316-million by September 2008. The figure for 2009 is also not very promising either according to the Afghan Investment Support Agency. Private sector development will only take when the World’s economy is in good shape. Historically, World economy has grown well after such crisis and developing nations are equally benefited.

Second - Aid from the international community and non-governmental organizations makes up about 40 percent of Afghanistan's legal GDP, which means, greater the financial crisis, deeper the negative impacts would be on Afghanistan. Thus, the recovery of global economy is in the best interest of Afghanistan, which would ensure the continuous inflow of funds in the form of international aid to finance government’s spending and funding other key projects.

G-20 summit may help to ease the global economic pain. However, Afghanistan needs a G-20 style summit to specifically assist in rebuilding financial system, fostering trade and investment and strengthening overall economy. The international community prioritizing economic reconstruction and infrastructural development is still lacking.

Afghanistan probably does not need more NGOs that come, start projects and leave when the funding runs out. We need the development of private sector which is something not largely prioritized and as a result reconstruction goals have not been met and strategic economic objectives are not achieved. Afghanistan needs investment, which would simply create more jobs, will generate more revenue for the government, would increase production and exports, and would lay down an economic platform for ordinary Afghans. Unless, the international community pave the way for a long-term sustainable economic recovery and growth, and help to establish an environment suitable for trade and investment, Afghanistan would fail to boost fiscal revenue, create the required amount of jobs, and alleviate mounting poverty. The Afghan government would also need to work hard with the international community to ensure good, transparent and accountable governance, correct enforcement of laws and regulations and the correct implementation and execution of trade and investment policies if they are truly serious to secure a viable economic future.

The impact of Global Financial crisis on Afghanistan

The global financial crisis has already greatly damaged developed economies and the economic slowdown is yet to continue in most developing countries. Governments across the World injected huge amount of cash into financial markets and brought interest rates to record level low, but many economists believe that the worst is yet to come. The World seems to be trapped in deep financial crises with major Stock markets around the globe down by more than 40% from their recent high while several major Investment banks have collapsed and many other rescued by their national government’s bailout packages. Key indicators of the global economic activities such as shipping rates are dropping at shocking rates.

What does this all mean for Afghanistan and how Afghanistan would be affected by the global financial crisis?

The impact of financial crisis may have not yet heavily felt in Afghanistan primarily because our economy is not fully integrated with the modern global economy and global financial markets. This financial isolation may be to Afghanistan’s benefit, keeping the economy away from the immediate effects of the economic meltdown across the world. The World Bank's country manager for Afghanistan Mariam Sherman is also positive about the economic outlook of Afghanistan and feels that “the global financial crisis is unlikely to have great damaging implications for Afghanistan primarily because the financial sector of Afghanistan is relatively small and has no major role in financing economic activities, and has also very limited international exposure".

However, the analysis of Sherman does not mean that we may completely escape the shocks of “once-in-a-century credit tsunami” as termed by Alan Greenspan. Like many other developing countries, Afghanistan may possibly face new challenges and there could be long-term direct and indirect consequences of the global financial crisis.

The single major and immediate direct risk is Foreign aid. Afghanistan is a highly aid dependent country and relies heavily on foreign aid for 90 percent of government budget. As also pointed by Sherman that any cuts on aid by donor countries, which themselves are in deep financial crisis can adversely affect the inflows of aid and that would be challenging for Afghanistan.

Canada and some European countries are facing increasing economic problems at home and many question, whether they will pour billions of dollars at a time when they are strapped for cash with increasing criticism from their public that there are few signs of success in Afghanistan. It is however, the US that provides more than half of foreign aid and if this crisis worsens further in America, where President Obama is struggling to cut back on an ever increasing budget deficit, then many experts believe that foreign aid might be slashed down and Afghanistan would have to bear the brunt of a global crisis.

Another area that can possibly be affected is the foreign investment in Afghanistan. Foreign direct investment in Afghanistan has been increased year-on-year and has been enjoying steadily growth since 2002. Foreign investment in Afghanistan may fall as many companies and investors face huge cash shortages and there may also be the possibility of slashing funds from ongoing projects. The worsening security situation in the country may further create challenges for the Afghan government.

The indirect consequences will be that Afghanistan’s exports may decline as imports of the recession hit economies would fall. Export growth is already slowing markedly in several developing countries.

Remittances from Afghan expatriates, communities and workers abroad may also decline mostly in recession affected rich countries. Afghanistan has received over $3.3 billion from its expatriate community in 2006 alone while $500 million come from Iran annually. If countries like Iran, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Turkey and India with sizeable Afghan population plunge into extend financial crisis, the affect would surely be felt at home in the form of less remittances being sent to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is not exposed to other potential risks faced by many other developing countries such the sudden withdrawal of foreign capital from several developing countries which has caused dramatic falls in their exchange rate. While other developing currencies rise and fall, the Afghani remains stable at around 52 to the dollar which is about the same since the start of financial crisis which is again partly due to US support of the Da Afgahistan Bank / Central Bank.

There is also the risk of unemployment in the case of prolong financial crisis and cuts in foreign aid which could also have social effects such lower growth translating into higher poverty, more crime, corruption, less spending in the public services and even more difficulties meeting the strategic Development challenges of Afghanistan.

As the global financial crisis are becoming viral and the goal to increase more troops and financial funding may become even tougher for Afghanistan. The Afghan government and International Community now more than ever, need a clear financial strategy as well as military strategy if it is to “win” this struggle in Afghanistan.

Please don't ask me what the score is, I'm not even sure what the game is. *

Seeing how the stories surrounding the Afghan presidential elections unfold is kind of like watching sports, seeing the ball being thrown back and forth, with the exception that everyone seems to be playing a different game. A new round was opened yesterday with the announcement by President Karzai that the elections will be moved back to their original date in April. Having said earlier that I am no political advisor, I must also add that I am no lawyer (much to my dad’s disappointment!), and therefore what follows is merely the product of my own rationalizing (you have been warned…).

In defending his actions to change the election date back to April, President Karzai referred to Chapter 3, Article 61 in the 2004 Afghan Constitution which states the following: “The presidential term shall expire on 1st of Jawza of the 5th year after elections. Elections for the new President shall be held within 30 to 60 days prior to the end of the presidential term.” I, of course, agree fully with following the Constitution. However, if President Karzai wants to get down to the nitty gritty of things, he might want to familiarise himself with the Constitution a little bit more...

Chapter 3, Article 66 in the Constitution states that “The President shall take into consideration the supreme interests of the people of Afghanistan to enforce the authorities enshrined in this Constitution.” These authorities refer to Article 64, which specifies 21 such authorities (and duties), the first one being to “Supervise the implementation of the Constitution”. By now you may be wondering where I am trying to get with all of these chapters and articles. Well, Karzai in supervising (enforcing?!?) the elections to be held in April (the time required by the constitution) is bypassing the supreme interests of the people of Afghanistan, also mentioned in the Constitution. A country like Afghanistan, which so heavily relies on the international community for assistance in carrying out its fundamental functions such as the elections, needs more than 7 weeks to organize fair and just elections. This is a task that would be hard even for any developed, fully democratized country with the most ideal conditions, to pull off. In the process he is not only jeopardizing the future of the people of Afghanistan, but also undermining the whole democratic process (no matter how flawed otherwise). Is this the kind of man we want to run the country for another 5 years?

Then of course there is the Electoral Law of 2005. Something which President Karzai, or atleast his advisers, may also want to familiarise themselves with (this would be the time!). The law (Chapter 2, Article 7) specifies that “The electoral process shall be administered by the Independent Electoral commission.” Moreover, the part dealing with the conduct of the elections (Chapter 8, Article 33) regarding the election date clearly spells out that “(1) The Commission shall announce the election date at least 140 days in advance. (2) The Commission shall prepare and publish, at least 120 days prior to the scheduled election date, an electoral calendar clearly showing all appointed dates of the elections.” However, if the elections are held on the 21 April, we are left with 51 days. Thus Karzai has technically disabled the whole elections, according to the laws. Not very smart Mr. President, is it? Also, how many laws can one possibly bypass, while making sure that one law gets followed? But as I said, I am no lawyer, and there must be some higher logic in all of this that escapes me (many would of course say it's dirty politics, but I was talking about higher logic)...

I have supported Karzai, and for a long time thought that he was a great man and a good leader. I suppose times like these really bring out the true colours in people. Right now his actions seem like those of a desperate man trying to hold on to the power that is slowly but surely slipping away from him. When the “king” stamps his foot, I hope the servants won’t hide in their chambers…

"Under the circumstances, it's futile to go on blaming politicians and demanding from them a morality they're incapable of. There's something pitiable about a people that constantly bemoans its leaders. If they've let us down, it's only because we've allowed them to. It could be argued that civil society has failed its leaders as much as leaders have failed civil society." (Arundhati Roy)

Maybe it is about time that we, the people of Afghanistan, started demanding that our leaders finally have that morality which they seem to have been lacking for so long!

(* quote by Ashleigh Brilliant)

Afghanistan needs you!!! Or does it...?!?

“Afghans are growing increasingly disenchanted with their perceived second-class status in their own country. [They] are paid a fraction of the salaries given to international experts, and it is disgruntling for well-educated locals to see foreign aid workers frequenting restaurants and shops that they themselves cannot afford.” (Mojumdar 2008) Or indeed, stores that they are not let into!

There has been a lot of talk about the resentment of local Afghans towards the returnees and expatriates. They take the jobs, make the housing prices skyrocket, and ultimately do nothing for the common good. They extract what they can before returning back to their comfortable lives in the West. Every Afghan who returns wants to be treated like a king or a queen in their own right.

People have been thrown out to the streets by their own families, who have come to claim the property that they did not care for during all the years of war, just to rent it for international NGO’s and other organizations for some extra dollars (if you recognize yourself from this description, I hope you feel a twinge in your heart just about now). Whatever happened to that famous Afghan hospitality, not to mention the family ties? Well, you know what they say… “You can find anything in Afghanistan, as long as you have the money.” I suppose our hospitality is for sale now too, up for grabs for the highest bidder.

The following are just a few comments from Afghans in the West concerning a possible return:

“I will return if they pay me well enough.”

“Depends on what position I will get.”

“Who can guarantee my security if I do return?”
(Who can guarantee anyone’s security in Afghanistan? While admittedly it is the government who is the guarantor of security in any healthy nation, I doubt if these people have realized the state of the Afghan government and the overwhelming tasks it is faced with, even without having to guarantee the security of every returning Afghan.)

I do not wish to belittle the valuable work that so many Afghans and non-Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan do, while leaving families behind and risking their life, for surely the country needs them. What I am critical about, however, is the arrogance and pride that so many people return with. There are millions of bright minds in Afghanistan just waiting to get the same opportunities that we have received in the West. We are not “something else”, a higher race of Afghans, that would make us somehow more deserving of protection, money and possibilities. It should be an honour for us to do whatever little it is that we can for our country, without making Afghanistan our “playground” in the process. When one truly wants to help, it should not depend on the position, nor should the salary be a deciding factor beyond being able to make ends meet (and this does not include living in Wazir Akbar Khan).

The aid money is disappearing like ashes to the wind before it ever reaches the ordinary Afghans. This serves to increase the discontent towards the international community and returnees as well as the elites, which in turn creates fertile breeding ground for support for the Taliban and other opposition groups. And then we’re back at one, going around in a vicious circle.

The dissipation is evident in the government as well. There are some 24 different ministries in Afghanistan. Looking at the list it seems ridiculous having a ‘Ministry of Finance’ and a ‘Ministry of Economy’. Then there’s the ‘Ministry of Education’ and ‘Ministry of Higher Education’. And what about the ‘Ministry of Public Welfare’ and the ‘Ministry of Public Health’? I could go on and on until the list is down to roughly a dozen or so vital ministries. Are we really so bad with our management skills that we need a ministry for everything? Indeed, two ministries for matters that could perhaps more easily be taken care of under one roof. Or, (and I know at least 24 people who will probably be upset about my accusations) were there too many “important” men going to be left jobless if we didn’t create all of these minister posts? I don’t know about others opinions on this matter, but to me it seems like a disgusting waste of resources in a time when that money could be used for much more productive activities! What makes the number of ministries even more ridiculous is the fact that apart from a few, they don’t even manage to fulfil their functions.

This being the time of change and hope around the world, watching Obama’s inauguration speech, the following struck me as something I wish that would have come from an Afghan president: “The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works...And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.” (Emphasis my own).

Those few who truly want to do good either get so discouraged that they end up leaving, or worse, they stop caring and turn into the very people that are keeping the country in the desperate state that it is in. What hope does this leave Afghanistan with?

Reference from:
(Mojumdar, A. 2008 Afghanistan: the Challenges Facing the Next US Presidential Administration, Eurasia Insight, Eurasianet. Available from: http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav102108a.shtml . Accessed: 24.01.2009)

As if we haven't learned anything from the past?!?

For those of you who didn’t read the news in the past few weeks, the US has announced its new strategy in Afghanistan. In addition to sending in 30,000 new troops this includes arming local militias to fight the Taliban. Sound familiar? Apart from being a repetition of the US strategy in Iraq, it should strike a chord closer to home. The wounds from the last time the United States armed Afghan fighters have not yet healed and already a new round is planned. Have we really not learned anything from the past or do we just play ignorant?

In Iraq there were (roughly) two warring groups, the Shiia and the Sunni. American officials themselves have counted that in Afghanistan there are over 400 tribal groups which could potentially attack each other. I am no military strategist or a political advisor, but my common sense says that something doesn’t add up here. The fact that there is even a chance these militias will be fighting anyone else other than the Taliban should be enough to halt such plans. Then again the Americans, who have been advising the government with their right hand while handing money and other resources to the warlords with their left one, have never quite mastered their military strategies.

Or perhaps I am underestimating the US. Maybe a lack of a real strategy in 2001 has caused them to put at least some effort into this one. Or maybe they have finally found out what we Afghans have known all along; every invader leaves eventually (and we will endure whatever it takes till this moment comes). For an Empire (despite a diminishing one) like the United States to admit defeat in Afghanistan would be unbearable. So here’s the plan: arm the Afghan militias, step back and in no time they will start killing each other (surely a few Talibans will be caught in the line of fire every now and then). You see, technically that would be a civil war and the US would have no real interest in it. Not until the war is taken back to the US soil anyway, and this will take a few years. Above all this would be a great excuse for a withdrawal without admitting defeat.

Later on the US officials can blame it on the Afghan blood and say there was nothing they could have done to stop it. All of these wars are in our genes, encrypted in our DNA. We’re such mean killing machines that if they didn’t give us guns we were going to do it by bare hands. Then there are traditional sayings such as “Me against my brother, my brother and me against my cousins, we and our cousins against the enemy” at hand to further prove a point. The country is such that even the Almighty One comes there to weep. As for us Afghans, we can once more be proud that we stood undefeated. Who cares what price we have to pay for this…

But I am getting carried away here. What I really had in mind were some questions. What is going to happen to the weapons once the militias have defeated the Taliban (assuming they would)? Who can make sure these weapons don't get into wrong hands? What is done to ensure that the fighters, both militia men as well as the Taliban, are rehabilitated back into the society by giving them alternative options later on? ARE THERE GOING TO BE ANY ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS?!? Or are they going to be stuffed in cargo containers, as the surrendered Taliban fighters were in 2001, in a hope that they suffocate sooner rather than later? Why is the Afghan government so willing to shoot itself on the foot when the US asks it to?

All I have is questions. I am hoping someone else is thinking about the answers.

Preparing for Tomorrow

Is it coincidental that Islam is going through a reformation 1400 years after its birth just like Christianity whose reformation started in the early 1500A.D? Different Christian sects such as the Protestants and Catholics fought with themselves until they learnt to live with their differences (relatively).

Afghanistan, the battlefield of world's most conflicts – first a buffer state between the British Empire and USSR, then the Russian Invasion and US supported war against them, then Al-Qaida’s training camp - is once again being used, not to decide on a new super-power but to decide on which sect is the true recreation of the values that were once in place during the reign of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Wahabi, a Saudi backed sect has been penetrating the South and East of Afghanistan for quite a while now. Shia, an Iranian backed sect has now joined in the race from the North. It is a war of ideology that is working on a grass roots level to gain strength and support in the country. It hasn't resorted to violence yet, but one that will create chaos in the next decade to come. Educational institutes, a place for unbiased and progressive education to flourish, are now at the centre of this divide.

It won’t be the first time religion is used as a reason to make Afghans go to war. The only difference this round will be that the enemy will not be a foreign invader, at least not physically. Both opponents will be Muslims, both believing their chosen sect is the right one and their key to heaven.

Those who have a religion carry a great amount of love and respect for it – some consider it personal while others believe it is their duty to spread it far and wide. There are different methods used by religious preachers to spread their selected religion and the one they believe is the right one. A religious missionary in his or her truest form will never harm, but only try to raise awareness about the path he/she believes is the right one and will make the world a better place. Fundamentalism, on the other hand is largely politically motivated – using the less informed to turn them in to extremists.

When thinking about religious fundamentalism the first thing that comes to mind implied is Islam - a misleading idea promoted by the Western media to justify the shameful war in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are Christian and Jewish fundamentalists, certainly more (some are) discrete in their operations and with more control of the situation to keep their work low profile. The dispute on ID and evolution is a good example of the existence of fundamentalism in the American politics.

Fundamentalism doesn’t have quick fixes; it cannot be resolved by war. Those who are fighting the war know this – a clear indication that the current war has other political/financial reasons than abolishing fundamentalism. It is a widely known fact that prevention is better than cure. It is too late for prevention in some cases. To undo that damage will require strategic work and time. Where it is not too late, staying vigilant and protecting the society from the things that would cause harm is important, such as in the case of preventing a future sectarian war.

Looking back at history, when the Christians were busy fighting the inter-religious war and while there was still religious persecution in place from the 1300AD to 1600AD they stayed confined to Europe and made no significant scientific progress. The current state of the Muslim world explains why that was the case. On the contrary, this (between 8th and 16th century) was a peaceful time for the Muslims; they made significant scientific discoveries and were at the peak of their cultural and intellectual progress – known as the Islamic Golden Age. Ibne-Sina (Avicenna), Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (Rumi), Alzheimer, Algebra, chemistry (then Alchemy) are well known contributors and contributions to scientific and intellectual progress. (Wikipedia article - Science in medieval Islam is a good starting point to find out more for those interested)

Moreover, the Muslim empire was spread over three continents, Africa, Asia and Europe. (See Map of the Islamic Empire) Its downfall started when Muslims diverted their focus to nationalism, power and greed. It coincides with the rise of the Christian's progress in both scientific and intellectual fields.

Afghanistan is not the only country in the region with a Muslim population of different religious groups (sects). However, what makes this country more vulnerable to its devastating effect is the high level illiteracy and religious ignorance. In addition to this it is an already divided nation on many fronts widely known such as ethnicity, language, and now religion. The attitude of divide has grown so much that it is in everything we do. If there is no reason for a divide, we create one. The latest one that came with the American invasion was the gender divide. Every Afghan woman I meet with the potential of making a real difference in the life of all Afghans work for the progress of women alone and every man is against it. What about the nation? What about integration? Without noticing it, we have formed an imbalanced society which is vulnerable and incomplete. Afghans’ good majority, who will soon be on the front line of this sectarian war, cannot differentiate religious obligations to cultural. Some widely known examples are:

• Divorce is an acceptable but not favoured practice in Islam; however it is over ruled by the Afghan culture. In most cases, no matter how unhappy the couples are in a marriage, they are not allowed to divorce.

• Racism and slavery were forbidden by Islam 1400 years ago. In the famous farewell pilgrimage speech by the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), he said ‘There is only one God, and no Arab is superior to a Non-Arab; nor is a Non-Arab superior to an Arab; a White is not superior to a Black, nor a Black over the White. The only criterion for superiority is Taqwa – i.e. righteousness, piety, and God-consciousness'. Yet the first question an Afghan asks you will pertain to if you are an Afghan: “Where in Afghanistan are you from?” The answer to this question decides whether you qualify to be human or not, in his/her eyes. Most Afghans seem to think every other ethnicity should be wiped off the face of the earth or at least suppressed because their own tribe/ethnicity is the best. All the other ethnicities are a curse God sent upon them. This is fascism in its clearest form obviously banned by Islam.

• Islam has mentioned men and women exactly the same number of times in the Quran (24 times each), explicitly gave them an equal status, and made education a must on both of them. The culture only favours men. Culture over rules Islam yet again.

It is probably weaknesses in religious practices, as above, and the lack of understanding of the religion Islam itself amongst the general public that is fuelling religious conflicts. Whatever the reason is, it is going to set Afghanistan and possibly the region back in to chaos for many decades. The flames of this conflict will most certainly burn whatever is left of Afghanistan if preventative measures are not taken immediately.

Recent Afghanistan – Summer 2008

When travelling to Afghanistan every visitor optimistically looks for signs of positive change. Hearing about fuel tankers and other vital supplies being shot and burnt by the Taliban on the main transit route (Jalalabad-Kabul) puts things right back into perspective. The daily bombings, kidnappings and killings raise major concerns about the lack of security even inside the capital of Kabul which was fairly safer just a year ago.

Reconstruction is just as painfully slow as ever and the frustration of the locals over the presence of the International Forces is growing very rapidly. The job of the donor community is perceived as being inadequate in its manner of unfair distribution of moneys, paying extremely high salaries to International staff, who do less to nothing but offend people with their expensive cars, etc. Even the donor community and the NGOs themselves are not investing in Afghanistan so how can they encourage others to do just that. The rent they pay for a year could easily build them an extravagant building. Because of their occupation of all the houses and the high rent they can afford, no one other than them can even think of living in a reasonable house.

CDP, a project of USAID, which received a fund of $218million supposedly works on capacity building but what does CDP do? I have yet to figure that out exactly. The feeling here amongst professionals is that they don’t even know what to do with the money they have – what a way to build capacity! I sat in one of their “Strategic Planning” training sessions which was no more than a complete waste of time and of course a lot of money. The money that donors pledge for the poor, the hungry, the orphans, the widows, and the less fortunate – all go to those already with deep pockets. If the donations stop, only the rich will suffer, not the poor because quite frankly they never stopped suffering. If they are not suffering more now then they are definitely not suffering any less than before.

Civil Servants from other countries take a leave from their job, so they can be rich overnight in Afghanistan by getting extremely high salaries for – once again doing nothing and the skills they bring with them “to benefit Afghans” are greed and corruption. All the hiring posts are occupied by them and the only people they hire are their own except for the posts allocated directly from donor countries such as the US. International “talents” are hired just so they can complain about the poor state of Afghanistan, its culture, security, lack of infrastructure, unemployment, pollution, dust and make fun of people. They do all that “work” while earning more in a month here than they could possibly earn in a year back home. This is without their security, housing and partying costs to make them feel at home. All this could be done by a local employee too plus it would mean one less unemployed Afghan.
It is not just about how money is spent. Donors pledge money but they never deliver as much as they promise. The only exception was Britain, last time a survey was undertaken it showed Britain spent more than it pledged.

Just a few days in Afghanistan is enough to make you heart break with disappointment and injustice. Yet you still see smiling faces everywhere; you see optimism in everyone and hope in the eyes of every child. Real progress is not in buildings or wealth but in the happiness of people. If people are happy than that is all that matters. Its not that the people here are used to the injustice so they have stopped caring or their smiles are fake because eyes never lie. So what is keeping the Afghans in high spirit and proud after 30 years of war, destruction, misery and injustice?

The only thing I find common amongst all Afghans is their strong faith. Could it be that? Faith as many scholars say is a power and a source of energy. It might be that energy, which keeps them going. The power of faith is described in every religion from Islam to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. In the Gospel Jesus says that people with faith could move mountains. Islam says that those who have faith “They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve”. Its not just religions that preach the power of faith, Napoleon Hill said, "Whatsoever the mind of man can conceive and BELIEVE he can achieve."

Soul as believed by Muslims (most Afghans are Muslims) is immortal and the strength that belief of immortality in itself must give people an enormous amount of hope. Knowing that, this life is not everything and that there will be an end to the misery may make it easier to live with. Any temporary torture may be bearable as the belief is that it will only be for a short time. More suffering in life means more rewards in heaven. This is what the feeling must be amongst the people in Afghanistan which gives them hope and the energy to remain happy in the never ending anguish that is brought upon them.

Localisation

Localisation is usually associated with mere translation of technology in to local languages; however it actually means adapting to local needs. A technology that may work in one country does not necessarily work in another even if their languages are the same, due to geographical and environmental differences. Adapting to local needs may include language translation to make it understandable to the local population.

Various Afghan institutions have been heavily involved in Localisation, including private/public sectors and the non-governmental organisations (NGO). While their work is worth admiring, it is subject to many flaws that are yet to be filled.

Bandwidth is an expensive commodity worldwide but especially in Afghanistan. A mere double (128Kbps) of a dial-up (56Kbps) speed costs 300 US Dollars (~ £160) per month. It is therefore important to be optimised to accommodate more users and to bring costs down. Over one billion users are connected to the Internet worldwide. Making access to the internet accessible to all those who can in Afghanistan would mean giving those Afghans over one billion opportunities to explore, learn from, do business with, socialise with, make friends with, etc.

Optimisation is far from being achieved here (in Afghanistan), it is actually being wasted. The ISPs (Internet Service Providers) seem to be more concerned with making money rather than making the internet market grow. I say this because the current internet users in the country mostly use windows and a killer for bandwidth that is associated with windows is its updates. Currently every windows user downloads updates directly through the backbone (via satellite) [See Figure 1 as an example]. The load on the backbone makes less available bandwidth and hence not only prevents the ISP from giving new connections out to new users but also affects the speed for the current users. Investing in a local cache server would avoid the repetitive download of the updates by each user separately [see Figure 2 for an example]. If a user wants to install the updates 10 times, it would not affect other users but only his own.

The other issue concerned with the localisation at the moment is the lack of awareness about the software and its costs. The average income of an Afghan is between $200 and $350 per year. A legal copy of Windows XP costs about $560 locally. For Afghanistan to be able to sell its software in the international market it would first need to comply with Intellectual Property and Copy Right laws. However, if most people cannot afford to buy the software, then enforcing the law becomes a problem. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and its localisation is therefore important to provide Afghans with something they can afford. Although there is no lack of support for FOSS in the ICT sector itself but it is struggling to gain the support it needs from the government and financial support institutes (donor community). The awareness amongst the public as to why they should change to open source is also lacking.

For a system to have flaws, it will have to exist first. In a place like Afghanistan it is difficult to foresee the future clearly; hence the work is usually carried out to fulfil the immediate needs without full analysis. It might be due to those reasons, that everything was/is done superficially. However, the good thing is the ICT industry is growing rapidly and the necessary improvements may clearly be seen as the number of professionals increase in the country. Despite its flaws, if there is a success story in Afghanistan, it would have to be the growth of its ICT sector. It has come a long way in the past five years but still has a long way to go. A well developed ICT sector will boost the economy and serve as an enabler tool for development and education. It will also address the divide between those who have access to information and those that do not.

Some ministries are working on e-governance. It wouldn’t be effective if the population has no access/limited access to the internet. The importance of internet can be summarised in the words of Stuart Lynn, President of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers and Names) in a presentation to the United Nations ICT Taskforce (October 2002), “If you can’t be found on the Internet, you don’t exist.”

Making local adaptation of ICT available and affordable is critical for the progress of Afghanistan. Let’s hope it will be very soon! There is a dedicated organisation just for the ICT sector – National ICT Alliance of Afghanistan (NICTAA) – an umbrella association of the ICT related private sector, academia and civil society. Its work has already made a huge difference and I hope it will continue its contribution to the progress of the Afghan ICT sector.

Karzai’s Declaration of War on Pakistan

Much of Pakistan’s destruction in Afghanistan has already been exposed and it is estimated that further damage is yet to be revealed. Pakistan has never let an opportunity slip to terrorise Afghanistan. However, unlike the Afghans they never speak of their intentions. Instead, they carry out the damaging work and it is revealed years later.

I have always been supportive of Karzai’s administration. He came in to power when Afghanistan was at its weakest point; almost nothing man-made remained in the country. There was a distinct lack of administration, infrastructure, peace keeping establishments and the economy was equal to nothing. Despite the obvious criticisms that his government has been facing such as administrative corruption, lack of security, the presence of war-lords and human rights violators in key positions of the government, he has done a terrific job of gradually establishing a system. Afghanistan now has a national army, police, judiciary system, exponential rise in economy has been seen, freedom of speech and practice is now in place, an enormous amount of reconstruction efforts have been completed, the education system has seen major improvements. Overall living standards have improved for a majority of Afghans.

However, watching his comments of what seemed to be a rational speech has made me consider a U-turn on my beliefs of the current government. Although some Afghans always considered Karzai’s government as a puppet administration of the US, his public announcements of raging a war inside Pakistan made his position that more clear. His efforts to cover up for the American bombings inside Pakistan last week gave away the roots of his decision. If he is going in to war on behalf/order of the US (his bosses) then at least not pronounce it in the open or was that what he was instructed to do?

While a war against insurgents across the borders may bring the moral of some Afghans up and may bring about a temporary unity within the country as it always happens, however, it will go downhill from there and very quickly. War against the insurgents does not have to be through bullets, it could be done through tightening security on the border. Dialogue and negotiations will prove far more effective. Looking in to the causes of why the nation is providing sanctuary to insurgents and what motivates the insurgents should be the point of focus NOT ANOTHER WAR.

Afghanistan has suffered enough. Decades of war has shuttered it in to pieces. We need peace and stability now so that we can collect the pieces back together. Ordinary Afghans will have to pay the price for this war with their blood, health and wealth. Food prices are already sky high, millions of Afghans are already misplaced from their homes, hundreds of thousands of innocent lives have already been lost; how many more sufferings will Afghanistan have to endure???

I pray for Afghanistan’s durable security and peace, that is what it needs now! Afghanistan has already sacrificed much of its assets for the proxy wars of others on its soil. We haven’t even recovered from that yet and already signs of another war!?

What is the war in Afghanistan really about?

Please click on the topic to watch this video. If the link doesn't work, try this url: http://www.presstv.ir/pop/wmp.aspx?id=48992

CeBIT Ends With Success For Afghanistan

On Sunday 9 March at 12pm, Afghanistan’s first ever participation in the largest technology exhibition CeBIT came to an end after six days. Afghanistan achieved tremendous amount of encouragement and appreciation for its rapid advancement in the ICT sector from the world wide media. The exhibition however served more of a purpose than just media attention. Under the umbrella of the National ICT Association of Afghanistan (NICTAA), Afghan companies managed to negotiate major investment deals with multi-national companies. With NICTAA’s positive news being so well received it managed to build the confidence in Afghanistan and Afghans.

The success of NICTAA in CeBIT may have come as a surprise to the world, but it also created an atmosphere of unity amongst Afghans. The German based Afghan community participated in vast numbers. Which indicated that had there been more success stories, the attitude of the average Afghan would be much positive and therefore tolerance will increase.
CeBIT also highlighted the strong Afghan-German relations. A deal of co-operation and partnership between NICTAA and Art of Technology (AOT), an association of 7 German IT companies, has been reached for further improvement of relations and technology progress. Dirk Ortmann, president of AOT: “We hope that this deal will encourage the German ICT companies to make business in Afghanistan”.

The progress of the ICT sector is as much dependent on investment as education. This exhibition not only proved to promote the ICT sector but also discovered an alternative means of education which is accessible to all Afghans. The initiative of Afghan German Management College was indicated to NICTAA by the ‘Afghan German Online’. This it-self was a great achievement for the promotion and progress of education in Afghanistan as it is an online college which works as an open university accessible and affordable by the majority. Eventually there will be a co-operation and partnership between NICTAA and AGMC to promote education and empowerment of the general public of Afghanistan.

Omar Mansoor Ansari, NICTAA’s President says, “Our visit also provided motivation to other Afghans in other sectors as well as the ICT sector. Finalising the deals negotiated here is the next step for us. The CeBIT participation was a milestone in the rapid development of our country, and will boost the ICT sector in Afghanistan and in consequence improve the education, private sector and stability. We thank the donor USAID/ASMED and the many private supporters for this. I also want to thank my team for their hard work and congratulate them on their accomplishments.”

CeBIT has introduced a different prospective to Afghanistan. For once the news was about success stories and not Afghanistan’s failure. Afghanistan being able to compete in the world market in ICT in a short span of time exposed what Afghanistan is capable of, if given the platform to do so. The message gave the green light for foreign and domestic investment. Moreover, a strong message was sent to national and international investors that the IT infrastructure in Afghanistan is not only a profitable market but also investors can benefit from the support of an established IT sector. NICTAA hopes that the negotiations conducted at CeBIT for local contracts will eventually attract direct investment in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is Making History at CeBIT 2008

The war-torn country of Afghanistan is once again under focus but at this instance it is for the rapid growth of its information communication technology (ICT) sector instead of turbulence. Afghanistan made its first ever appearance this year in the largest technology exhibition CeBIT, held in Hanover, Germany, from March 4-9.

Heaving Afghanistan’s ICT profile will create many positive impacts such as contributing towards a sustainable economy, social rest, and educational progress.

The Afghan businesses participating in the event are receiving an awe-inspiring amount of encouragement from the global market with its interest. The National ICT Association of Afghanistan (NICTAA) was welcomed by investors in Germany and other countries, including Poland, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, UK, America, Greece and even Sudan. Companies such as Siemens, DBB, Docuware, AOT’s partner TST Biometrics, Microsoft Partner and IBM Business Partners have shown a keen interest in investing in the Afghan market. Afghan companies exhibiting at CeBIT 2008 under the umbrella of NICTAA are swept off their feet by the number of new deal negotiations and contracts they have to process each day since the beginning of the exhibition.

Afghanistan’s progress in the ICT sector in such a short time has stunned the world. Said Tayeb Jawad, Afghan Ambassador to the US said, “I remember a time when we couldn’t even connect a printer and today’s progress in such a short time proves how talented our people are. I was thrilled to hear the news and sent my congratulations and encouragement immediately to the team who made all this happen.”

It is as if CeBIT Germany was not enough, NICTAA has already started negotiations with Hanover Fairs International Turkey Office to become its official partner in Afghanistan for CeBIT Eurasia 2008. Omar Mansoor Ansari, President of NICTAA says, “The progress we made in these few days of our participation at the CeBIT 2008 is exciting. I am thrilled by my team’s performance and the hard work of our talented business leaders and entrepreneurs. Their speed of establishing business relationships with the overseas industry players is remarkable. This simply makes me proud!” Afghanistan’s participation in CeBIT 2008 was made possible by the National ICT Association of Afghanistan (NICTAA) and USAID’s Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED) project for its sponsorship.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. ASAUK will also be holding an event to celebrate this great day.

When it comes to the topic of women in Afghanistan, the focus is always about the different interpretations of one thing – suppression. This in essence has always been miss-directing the efforts for modernisation to westernisation. The two words for many Westerners are synonymous, but there is a big difference and the effects of the two would hence be different too.

ASAUK’s event on International Women’s Day is organised to be different from the norm. There will be speakers from different backgrounds with different opinions. We want to deliver the full picture, including achievements, modernisation, struggles, opportunities and the role of women in the Afghan society.

Come along to the conference if you are in London on the 12th of March. It will surely be an enlightening and a fun evening with speakers, a documentary about Afghan women, classical Afghan music and much more. Other details are on http://www.asa4uk.com/InternationalWomensDay.aspx

Overwhelmed at CeBIT says NICTAA

Afghanistan was set to a great start on its first day at the CeBIT 2008 exhibition. Visitors queued outside the comparatively small Afghan cubical as soon as the exhibition doors were open. CeBIT, is regarded throughout the world as the largest and most influential marketplace for ICT, the exhibition attracts participants, buyers and sellers from 100 countries who gather in Hanover, Germany each spring to discover and promote the latest trends of the digital age.
Four leading software development and IT companies from Afghanistan are attending the trade fair from March 4-9: XALA Technologies, NETLINKS, Paiwastoon Networking Services and Trend Com. Their participation is organized by the National ICT Association of Afghanistan (NICTAA) and sponsored by USAID’s Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED) project.

A visitor who traveled from South America to the exhibition said, “It is really interesting that Afghanistan is able to compete with the world market in software outsourcing so quickly, especially with what we hear and see on TV about Afghanistan, this comes as a complete surprise to me. I would be very interested to take the information back to my company directors to hear their opinion on outsourcing our software development to Afghanistan.”

The four companies managed to secure business contacts and established grounds for possible contracts with major players in the IT sector from across the world. One of such companies was DataBase-Bank (DBB) who offers the first Data backup appliance secured against all major risks such as fire, flood, theft, human errors, and breakdown of the information system. Asmat Ullah, CEO of XALA Technologies said, “This kind of data protection boxes are of great use in a place such as Afghanistan where disaster occurrences are almost regular and the security of data through such a secure system can be vital.” DBB is currently negotiating an exclusive deal with the Afghan companies at CeBIT to establish a base for the Central and South Asian market in Afghanistan.

Omar Mansoor Ansari, president of NICTAA said, “We are overwhelmed by the keen interest shown by visitors and the hard work put in by the exhibiting team. We still have five more days to go way to go and I hope they will be as fruitful as today if not more.”

First Ever Afghan Participation in Largest ICT Exhibition

Hearing the news that Afghanistan will be participating in CeBIT, regarded throughout the world as the largest and most influential marketplace for ICT, is probably the best thing I have heard about Afghanistan in the past few months.

Afghanistan’s political situation is making so much news that it sometimes overshadows all the other progress the post-conflict nation makes. Progress in the technology sector is directly proportional to the progress of the nation. It plays a vital role in gaining prosperity, creating job opportunities and will enable Afghanistan to become a more self-reliant state.

According to Omar Mansoor Ansari, President of National ICT Association of Afghanistan (NICTAA), “Afghanistan is one of the least developed countries; however, its growth in the ICT sector is remarkable. We have had the highest ICT growth level in the region, just with the few years of tapping into the information communications technology; this, indeed, is fabulous, and we need to tell these good stories to the world.”

The CeBIT exhibition attracts participants, buyers and sellers from 100 countries who gather in Hanover, Germany each spring to discover and promote the latest trends of the digital age.NICTAA believes the event will provide Afghan participants the opportunity to reach a large international audience of qualified professionals and that they will make valuable new contacts and pave the way for lasting business relationships in the future. CeBIT will also be a good place to identify new market trends, offering the attendees exposure to valuable new ideas that will inspire future work.

Four leading software development and IT companies from Afghanistan will attend the trade fair scheduled for March 4-9: Xala Technologies, NETLINKS, Paiwastoon Networking Services and Trend Com. Their participation is organized by the National ICT Association of Afghanistan (NICTAA) and sponsored by USAID’s Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED) project.

Bryan Rhodes, Chief of Party for USAID/ASMED, says the project is pleased to support the development of Afghanistan’s ICT sector. He went on to say that “ASMED is sponsoring the participation of NICTAA, one of our key Afghan business associations and a USAID partner, because we believe the event will offer a great business opportunity for Afghan businesses.”

NICTAA is an umbrella association of the ICT sector and a key visionary in the country. It promotes ICT as a sector, a tool and an enabler to support economic growth, trade, e-commerce, education, civic education, democracy, human rights, business ethics and free market principles in Afghanistan.

Let us hope the potential of Afghanistan to become as a trade center for Asia will be noticed by the international investors.

Civilisation of Fashion

Many concerns have been raised over the Afghan youth paying more attention to fashion then towards the reconstruction of their country. The growing materialism amongst the citizens of the war torn country is constantly pointed at. Its validity, on the other hand is debatable.

It is true that mankind has spent much time building houses and making them warm and comfortable, still every child love to stay out doors even if it is wet and cold. This is despite the revolution of games consoles and other such entertainment gadgets. However, children are becoming materialistic at a younger age in the current generation.

I asked a friend, if he would rather go out with a broken arm or a ripped shirt? He answered, “Broken arm, because people will give me weird looks if I went out with a ripped shirt and may even laugh at me”. He cared more about what people thought of how his clothes looked like than having a defect in his body.

Recalling a personal experience, I was able to understand where he was coming from. Just over a year ago, I attended a meeting at the Afghan Embassy in London. As I pulled in front of the embassy in my car - which I thought was a good enough student car and fit for its purpose I was greeted by a family friend standing outside. He looked at me with disappointment and quickly greeted me with the question, “damn Hamdullah!! Is that what you drive?” instead of Salaam, hello or how are you.

It made me realise it is more due to the pressure of the external world than it is human nature! The better you are dressed the more civilised you are considered to be. People don’t see your character unless they know you so the first thing to judge you by is your appearance.

The words civilised and fashionable are now synonymous. Every generation laughs at the older fashions but follows the new fashion like a religion forgetting that later generations will only laugh at it. Even so, fashion is becoming the identifier of our civilisation.

Nonetheless, I personally am guilty of materialism. It makes me feel comfortable if what I am wearing is branded despite knowing that a similar piece of clothing will cost me about 90% less without a brand name. With loans piling up and the student loan being the only income I have, it would be wise to go for the non-branded clothes but I can never convince myself to make the wise decision when buying clothes.

I once read that what a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate. Therefore, I think as long as it is helping us feel better about ourselves then materialism is not such a bad thing or is it??

Democracy and Unity

Many of my non Afghan acquaintances usually ask me whether democracy will work for Afghanistan as they see Afghanistan as being so divided and a novice to the concept. I don’t think Afghanistan is divided or new to democracy. We are let to believe this by the media. In actual fact our first democratic government was established in 1747. It took numerous Jirgas (grand assemblies) to elect the new King after the assassination of Nadir Shah.

Ahmad Shah Abdali (also known as Ahmad Shah Durrani and Ahmad Shah Baba) was elected King of the Durrani Empire. He was not a royal but viewed as someone who had the ability to lead the empire by those who elected him. It was a democratic kingdom, which had the support of almost all tribes. During this period, Afghanistan saw a time of prosperity, peace and power. Although one cannot say there was no opposition of the Kingdom, there wasn’t any significant uprising. While the rest of the world was diseased with slavery, the Durrani Empire could take credit for being a slave free Kingdom. There is no doubt that Ahmad Shah Abdali was a capable and charismatic King, however, his success was enhanced with the support of those that elected him.

Unfortunately the tradition of the Jirga electing the King was not continued. The Kingdom was passed to Abdali’s son Taimur Shah, who didn’t have the capability of retaining the Empire. Had the tradition of democratically electing a King continued, Afghanistan may have had a completely different history. If it worked for Afghanistan then it can work now!

As far as division is concerned, a true democratic government represents all with no threats to any ethnicity or religious groups. There maybe disagreement between political parties in Afghanistan but then what country doesn’t have that? A political party represents the view of its constituents so it cannot be interpreted as division. Afghanistan is more united today than ever. Everyone is working towards the country so how can it be divided??

It is remarkable that even after decades of war Afghanistan rapidly got itself back on the road to recovery. Some believe that it is the aid of the international community that has enabled Afghanistan but I think with all the help in the world Afghanistan would not have recovered, had it not been for the deep love of the Afghan nation for their country.

Every Afghan carries a great amount of love for the country regardless of their political opinions. To many non-Afghans that I have met, Afghanistan is an inspiration. Those that had the privilege of visiting the country or are in touch with Afghans in the Diaspora are all admirers of the enthusiasm of the Afghan people who are all working so hard to rebuild the country.

In a generation where most young people can only think about having fun, the Afghan youth across the world are taking ownership of the problems faced by our country and are continuously striving to do something constructive. Our country may have been destroyed by a long war but seeing the enthusiasm Afghans are channelling into rebuild Afghanistan it predicts a bright future for Afghanistan. A collective action by such a big mass of Afghans shows unity to me. If this is not unity then what is?

The Kite Runner

A week after watching the Kite Runner at a premier screening held by Relief International on the 17^th of December, I still don’t know what I should think of the film.

Almost all Afghans are looking forward to the film’s world wide screening because lets face it, nothing good has happened to Afghans for a few decades now. This film is sort of our hope for something of world-class quality.

From a production point of view the film was great. The cast was excellent. The film quality was fantastic; all in all everything was impressive. It was also something new. In the past few months, I have never seen a film made by Hollywood that didn’t resemble a previous one, so the Kite Runner was entirely a fresh idea. Knowing Hollywood, one can predict the Kite Runner II, depending on the success of the first one.

What concerns me is the message presented to a widely conservative nation. The reason for Afghanistan being so backward is due to the fact that our hot blood always kicks in before our brain does.

Like most young Afghans, all I have seen in life is the degraded status of Afghanistan. There was war from before I was born and it still continues. The nightmares of it staying the same or getting even worst keeps me awake at night like many others. So while everyone is anxiously waiting for the films to come out in cinemas, I am anxiously waiting for the reaction of our people after the film.

Will it be the first and last good thing that happened or will we be able to see it with a more open mind?

When I first heard the saying, “Desperate times call for desperate measures”, I thought it was the wisest thing I ever heard but seeing what desperate actions have done to Afghanistan, I am now wondering if taking desperate measures is even a characteristic of wisdom? The more I think about it the more I get sure that it is not.

Maybe I am just paranoid but once you have tasted degradation, it is hard not to be.

My hope is that the film opens a new positive horizon in the progress of Afghanistan towards a just and open-minded society.

Bad-mouthing – an Afghan culture?

I have heard many people say they don’t want to hang around Afghans and I have always wondered why.

There was a time when I hardly had any Afghan friends and I thought there was one thing missing in my life and that was a lack of Afghan friends.

Almost all my friends today are Afghans. I don’t have major problems but I have realised why Afghans don’t like to be around other Afghans.

We all do what we want do but then we criticise and judge others for the choices they make.

The thing I don’t understand though is why we do that? The only person that is going to be affected by their choices good or bad is themselves. Why do we judge others? How much do we know about their life?

It is hard enough to maintain our cultural identity whilst living in a western country. Then we have to face persecution from our peers who we think understand us and are doing exactly the same thing. Therefore they are in no position to judge but that does not seem to stop them.

We always have to pretend around other Afghans, so can never be ourselves. Who would like to be in a situation where they can’t be themselves? I know I wouldn’t.

We are distancing our own people from ourselves by doing this. With each generation that passes there is a shift away from the path our parents want us to follow. Hence you would think that there is a change in the narrow mindedness that we seem to possess but this does not seem to be the case. This will not change until people look at their own actions before judging others.

We should be making people comfortable amongst us and that cannot be achieved until we lose the habit of bad mouthing others.

On the bright side, this habit is something we all have in common. We always fight over our differences so if we can’t change the habit at least put it to a good cause. Let’s unite over this bad habit and respect each other because we are all the same in one way or another!

Self-centred but romantic Afghans!

I have stopped asking fellow Afghans what their main hobby is because I can predict what the answer is: ‘poetry or reading it’. It is the same in Afghanistan, everyone I met was a poet. Not all their poems are about love but the majority of them tend to be.

It’s not just that, the choice of movies is also soppy. It’s either Bollywood love stories or Hollywood romantic comedies.

The pattern is followed by music as well. The majority of Afghan music is about “love”. The other music most Afghans listen to is again either Indian romantic songs or RnB which is more or less the same except for the language.

If you are a techno music lover like me then you always feel that you are a bit of an outcast. I was so happy to find out that ASAUK’s next event is not just a keyboard singer with cheesy songs that we have all heard millions of times but something different ‘a rapper’. It was a relief that there will be a change from the norm.

A friend once commented on Afghan’s saying: “All Afghans are in love but they just don’t know who they are in love with”. With time I found that statement to be so true.

Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with being romantic but the self centeredness that comes with it is not good. I think the reason that we (Afghans) are so self centred is because we all love ourselves far too much. We don’t know it but deep down the only person we love is ourselves. There maybe some psychological reasons behind it but I really don’t to get in to that.

It is that feeling that always stops us from appreciating others, their talent, good deeds and so forth. We have developed a sense of jealousy and we think everything should be about us. The world is bigger than one individual. There are billions of people on earth and they are all human and hence equal. No one is complete on their own.

Other people always have qualities that we don’t so we should accept this instead of getting defensive and disagreeing with all they say or do. We only do this to make us feel better about ourselves. We know they are right but we have to dispute everything they say. Accepting the achievements of others is important.

I maybe wrong so feel free to correct me if you think I am. I really want to know why this is.

If I am not wrong, then listen to some techno and you might find that you like it!!

Spring of Hope

I went to the premier screening at the American Embassy of Hashmat Khan’s new movie ‘Spring of Hope’ last night.

The event started with a few welcome words from the American Embassy's cultural attaché and a welcome speech from the Afghan Ambassador, Dr. Rahim Shirzoy, showing his support for the film and the film maker's efforts. After the ambassador’s speech the film was shown which was followed by a question and answer session with the film maker.

The name of the film contained the word HOPE in it and it was being screened at the American embassy so I went with my hopes up. I had Hollywood standards in mind but the film started with a typical Bollywood style of a guy and a girl who see each other and lo and behold they fall in love at first sight.

It was a love story as you probably gathered but it also covered the Afghan war, ethnicity and language issues faced by Afghans in Afghanistan. The aim of the film is to restore national unity.

I felt that there were many flaws in the film, like repetitive shots, cheesy lines and not all but some bad acting. A friend of mine who is not Afghan felt it was a bit of a self-indulgent, stereotyped 3 hour long epic for the director and that it was again not a great film to be seen by the international community as "the first commercial film to have been made in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban".

Initially I left the cinema room disappointed but on reflection I realised that the film portrays the reality of Afghanistan.

It is to be expected that the first film won’t be of great standards. Everyone has to make a start somewhere. I am sure Hollywood didn’t begin with making extra-ordinary movies. The film actually got better towards the end which to me meant: the future is bright.

Hashmat Khan put a lot of work in to the film and we should be appreciative of that. He did something for our country and if we (Afghans) are not going to support him then how will he or any other film maker be able to make an improvement.

I am sure he wanted to screen an amazing film but reality is far from that. Financial, technical and many other obstacles that he explained in the question and answer session came in the way of that.

The film made me realise that we live in a dreamland and only want to see things beyond our expectations when it comes to Afghanistan. It is not our fault, we only want the best for Afghanistan and feel proud when there is something nice to show off with, however to achieve the best we have to work hard for it and need to understand that every small step take us closer to what we really want to see.

This film may not have met our expectations, but it still had some very interesting and informative bits. More importantly it showed that there are people working for the betterment of our country in all aspects of life. Their hard work and our support will one day give us the chance to see Afghan movies that are beyond our expectations.

The best part of the film for me was that it covered the effect of the war over the Afghan culture in such a beautiful manner. How war transformed the Afghan culture may not be an easy thing to explain to people but from now on I don’t have to, I can just show them the film but first, I need to buy a DVD copy of it!

Last but not least, I enjoyed the film and would like to say bravo to Hashmat Khan. I look forward to watching his next film which is about education.

Also many thanks to Farid Khan Popal (First Secretary, Political Affairs – Afghan Embassy UK) for his efforts of making the embassy accessible to all and for keeping the Afghan youth in mind at all times.

Obsession with Doctors

Since I was a child my parents kept telling me that I will one day become a doctor. Without a second thought I would always agree with them. As I grew older and graduated from school, I discovered I had more of an interest towards engineering subjects. However my parents were still adamant that I would become a doctor.

When I started applying for University, I was forced to keep the subject of my degree a secret but eventually my parents found out and there was a huge quarrel about it. It took a lot of persuasion and many arguments later I managed to convince them. Seeing my passion for engineering they vowed their support.

I felt like I have changed my family’s mind about enforcing what they want on us. I was mistaken. In the recent months, my nephew had to go through exactly what I did. If it was just an issue in my own family perhaps I wouldn’t be so worried but this obsession exists in most Afghan families.

I can’t speak for other professions but if you are an engineering enthusiast and having similar problems with your family here are some of the arguments that will help you fight for your right.

One of the arguments my parents gave me was that doctors are the healers and saviours of human being, which is true. However, engineers are the not only the saviours of human beings but also the providers of the convenience. Everything we see around us that wasn’t made by God is the creation of Engineers.

Without engineers there would be no ambulances to get the critically ill people to hospitals, doctors and surgeons would have no tools to operate on patients, there would be no x-rays or other technology to diagnose illnesses, all in all there would be no hospitals with out engineers.

There would be no roads without engineers, no electricity, no aeroplanes, no cars, no ipods, no laptops, no toys, no dolls, no bridges, no boats, no buildings, well basically nothing. Look around you, well there would be none of that without engineers.

From the early days of the world, the engineers have made the lives of other humans easy. Those with engineering minds dug caves for shelter. It is the blessing of engineers, who invented the printing machine, which made education accessible to all. Without this invention, most people won’t be able to afford books.

With computers, engineers made life even easier for every one on this earth. Communication is almost free these days but more than that learning about any subject is only a click away.

Engineers didn’t stop with providing all the needs but continued with entertainment for everyone. Radios, televisions, DVD’s, ipods, etc are all gifts of the engineers.

You would think that would be it but fortunately it doesn’t stop there. It took an engineer to work out the causes of the deadly Malaria, which claimed many innocent lives, just like cancer before an engineer working in a mine found a cure for it. Cancer is another example of engineering research. The amount of contribution engineers make towards medical advancement is immense. You could call engineers the real healers :)

This is just an example but if you do show you are so passionate about what you want to do then there would be no problems. It is also advisable to do a detailed research about your choice because nothing is worth doing without absolute passion.

Billions of Afghani

The number of times I have been called an Afghani is countless. Afghani is the currency of Afghanistan & its nationals are called AFGHAN. It is like calling an American a dollar or a British a pound. However I can see how it may happen, as people from Iraq are called Iraqi. The same rule does not apply everywhere though!!

The next time you see an American, ask him if he is known as a dollar and gage his reaction! I’m sure he will not be too pleased!

Being called Afghani is insulting as the value of Afghani is so low. Therefore insinuating that Afghans are not worth much. So let’s try and remember the term is Afghan not Afghani.

Afghanistan summer 2007

I have recently returned from Afghanistan. The pictures on the right are also from my trip.

The pictures portray lots of development work that has been carried out. Seeing this progress made me a happy person but unfortunately the feeling didn’t last long.

While there were new roads, tall buildings and fancy cars on the roads, there was also the lack of equivalent intellectual progress. Education was still at its lowest, and the behaviour of people was still very much ignorant. Although there was no danger of bombs on the road, one still did not feel safe walking on the streets. The attitude of the average person on the streets of Kabul was far from friendly.

TV channels were promoting a culture that is not true to Afghanistan and again education had no part of the scheduled programs. After watching a week of TV, I came to the conclusion that if Indian drama serials and foreign music was taken out of the schedule the only thing left would be propaganda news and advertisements.

To me it seems that Afghans are being blocked out from the external world. Maybe this a deliberate attempt to keep everyone in the country blind to what is happening around the world so that they can not compare their position with the rest of the world. If it is not done deliberately then lies the question of why these television stations sensor the progress of the world??

I was however inspired and encouraged to see the interest in education from the Afghan youth. Although the system is working against their needs, they were still searching for ways to quench their thirst for education. How far they may reach with their quest was not known but everyone was still trying...

During my time in Afghanistan, there were university entry exams for evening classes. The amount of people that turned out to take the entrance exam one morning was immense but unfortunately it would prove to be a futile exercise. Even if they passed they would still have to pay a bribe to get on a university course. The odd of getting in to university without being able to pay a hefty bribe was like that of winning the lottery. It seems that money is the new religion and without money you are helpless.

I met with so many students that have taken these entry exams in the past 3 consecutive years and their results were “unknown”. Everyone had the same question, what is unknown? Is it a pass or a fail? But they didn’t have the money to get the question answered.

Corruption at the level of police, the army, government, banks, hospitals, schools, universities... I could go on forever and the list won’t end. However, having the culture of corruption as part of the education system is the one that is worrying me the most.

I returned with pretty images in my camera but with ugly images in my mind. Is hope everything we have now or should we try to change this? Change is possible if we want it but impossible without anyone working for it. … Maybe a miracle will happen and it will all be fixed… or is time for Afghans to unite and face this challenge as a nation?

TULU Vs the Attorney General (The war for rights)

Article written on 30/04/2007
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War torn Afghanistan is struck by yet another war but this is war of an entirely different nature. No weapons are being used but it is as damaging to young democratic Afghanistan as the war of guns. It is causing a division between the various prominent organisations and figures within the country.

I received a number of emails urging support for the free media, which I am sure many other people received as well. I was also invited to a meeting held in London by Afghan businessmen and political figures in an effort to resolve this issue, which gave me the opportunity to observe the opinions and feelings that the community have.

There are varied opinions as I perceive it. Those in support of the Attorney General are reasoning that insulting and manipulating the words of someone is not free media in any form or shape. While the ones in support of free media are reasoning that the attack on TULU television and the arrest of its staff is an attempt to control the free media, which is against democratic values.

The case is already in court and it is the court's job to decide on who is wrong and who is right.

We only hear one side of the story and get our backs up by hearing how unjustly the other party behaved. By the time we get round to hearing the other party's opinion we are not in a position to even contemplate what they have to say no matter how right they maybe as we are already in defensive mode.

Instead of creating parties, which cause a further divide in the currently divided Afghanistan, why can’t we act as sensible citizens and support the Afghan government by trusting in its judicial system.

For how long are we going to squander our time trying to resolve issues between two individuals or parties? We could be doing something more productive and beneficial for our country instead.

As harsh as it may sound, it is not our job to interfere in the job the court should be doing, we are only creating further problems. Supporting the cause we believe in is one thing but taking matters in to our own hands is just not the way forward.

If we are friends of Afghanistan and want its newly established democratic government to flourish then we should show our support to its legal system.

The Afghan constitution has clauses that define the rights of the Attorney General and also the media.

Let it be a learning lesson to all that if you do something wrong there is a judicial that will bring you to justice or grant you justice if someone else is attempting to take your rights from you, instead of relying on how much support you can get from individuals or organisations to fight for your rights.

If we let the court decide on this matter, then the next time someone has a problem, they will not pick guns or any other destructive mechanism to resolve the issue in their favour. They will turn to the legal system and ask for justice, which is impartial and most importantly JUST.

If we retaliate, against those who have upset us or has a disagreement with us every time then what is the role of the government? Instead we create our own government, our own law and our own punishment for those that go against us. What is the law for then? Should we just get rid of it to make our job of destroying our opponent easier or should we support it in order for it to protect and defend our rights in a legal way. There is bound to be a difference of opinions and as soon as we accept that the better it will be for us.

Supporting Tulu TV or the Attorney General on our own initiative and without knowing the full picture, we would be giving heat to a new war and a new division. Dividing Afghans like this does not sound like a good idea to me but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

We will be empowering the government if stop taking sides and trust its law to bring us justice. The Afghan government needs our support to bring about and maintain peace. Trust it or lose it and give way to terrorists. Just imagine how your rights would be affected under a terrorist regime after we successfully destroy the little bit of democracy we have achieved in decades.

As we are all well aware there is the right way of going about things and there is the wrong way. It is our chance to strengthen the right way. The right way can be difficult and lengthy but it is the only way that is going to guarantee a stable Afghanistan.

Why can't Afghans find a leader to take us out of trouble like every other country?

Article written on 14/04/2007
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Afghanistan has faced some turbulent times over the past decades and we have managed to begin to claw ourselves out of the devastation, however there is still a vast amount of work remaining to rebuild our country.

When reading through Afghan history, it seems that there is a tendency to leave things uncompleted. Whenever, we are in trouble we get ourselves out but never completely. We stop before we make real progress and the struggle continues.

This issue has left me rather confused for some time, because Afghans are no less talented, sharp, clever, determined and focused than any other nation. To top it off, Afghans carry hearts of rocks, which give us the strength to fight any trouble in our way. However, there is something preventing us from digging ourselves out of the disarray that our country is in.

So what do you think the reason is? I think it is because we don't have a leader to takes us all the way. It is always the joint effort of the civilians who manage to pull the nation out of the situation to some extent but then there is no one to guide them the rest of the way.

So why is that then? If we are so good then we should have good leaders? Shouldn't we?

Well we do have good leaders but the problem is we just have too many.

In a previous piece of writing, I have mentioned the three types of education systems that Afghans in Afghanistan or in exile use to educate themselves and their dependents with.

One major defect with all three of these systems, which is inherited from our way of thinking, is that all of our education systems some how links to an elite educational system.

The difference between an elite education system and a conventional education system is that a conventional education system would concentrate on producing good and skilled citizens while an elite education system concentrates on creating good leaders.

Do you see the problem, no matter what type of education we have, whether it is conventional, religious or unconventional; they all insist on making us educational elites. We all want to govern and no one is mentally ready to be governed. Leaders alone cannot run the system if there is no one to follow, no matter how good of a leader he/she maybe.

I am not saying we should put a stop on creating education elites but we do need to concentrate on the good and skilled citizens too. For now we have enough leaders, we need to workout a way on how to train the rest of us to be followers.

So my conclusion is that the fault lies within us. When we become good followers and good citizens, we will have good leaders that will take us all the way when fighting a trouble and leave nothing behind.

Play your part, to help this situation. Everyone can make a difference, starting from me and you.

The Fear of failing

Article written on 10/03/2007

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Does it excite you when you know that what you have achieved is better than any Afghan ever has? Or do you dream of such a position?

Before I begin, I would like to say that if you have achieved something so good then, you are not alone in feeling the pride, every Afghan is proud of you and if you are aiming to achieve such a position then we will be proud of when you get there and are proud of you now for trying.
Ok here we go:

When I was in my second year of University, we were required to apply for jobs as our part of our degree program. It wasn’t compulsory but it was recommended that we did so.

I was hesitant like many other students. If I went for an industrial work placement then that would mean I get a years worth of valuable experience. Which inevitably will stand me in good stead when I apply for permanent jobs.

However, if I didn’t go for the year placement then I would graduate a year early, which could also be a bonus.

Being confused, I still applied for jobs, just to fool myself that I tried and I didn’t get one. There was also a confidence issue, I thought no one would give me a job so I had admitted defeat before even trying.

I went for a couple of interviews but was unsuccessful as I alreadypredicted. Then I got a call from Intel Corporation for an interview. It was in the middle of my exams and as I was already disappointed by getting rejected by small companies and hereis a company that dominates the computer industry by an enormous share of 80% in the PC processors. I thought I didn’t stand a chance.
I then heard one of my Greek classmates who had already been accepted by them that there are no Afghans in the company. He also said it with sarcasm that he is not surprised, all Afghans know is how to blow themselves up, nothing more.

It may have been intended to be sarcasm by him but it hurt me like being hit by a bullet. I decided I was going to prove him wrong by not just going to the interview but getting the position as well.

It was that determination that helped me find time to prepare so well for the interview despite being in the middle of my exams that I got a job offer a day after the interview. It took nearly two months for the funny guy to hear back after his interview.

As you can guess, I was pretty excited to be starting a job at such a prestigious company but it didn’t last more than a week. I started to realise how low my aims were but that was not what bugged me. The fact that when I was scared of failing, I failed and as soon as soon as I overcome that fear, the failure just saw itself out of the door.

Fear of failing can be the biggest obstacle in the way of your success. Get over it and the rest will just follow. No failure is a failure, until you accept it. Every time you think you have failed has actually been a blessing with a wealth of life experience. It makes you see things you wouldn’t have even noticed had you passed the first time. Try again and again, until you achieve what you want to achieve and in the process you will learn so many more things and achieve so much more than you expected.

All of us use post it notes because they are so good, they stick but you can remove them easily and they don’t leave a mark. You can stick them on anything, paper, glass, plastic, wall, etc. A genius invention and you know where it came from.. you guessed it.. from a failure that was turned into success. The company was actually trying to create a super glue and got the weakest glue in return but they didn’t call it a failure. They turned the story around and made it a bigger success than that supper glue they were trying to make could ever take them.

So, if you want to do some thing, just do it. Don’t think about the consequences or the end result because what ever, it is going to be will be for the better. Just don’t do silly things like slapping a stranger because the consequences may not be in your favour :)

All the best!

Afghans are more educated than I thought - 100% can you believe it?

Article written on 15/03/2007

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There are three types of education systems available to Afghans
1. Conventional Education system (Schools/colleges/universities)
2. Religious education system (Madrasas)
3. Unconventional Education system (explained below)

Every Afghan has been educated with at least one of the above, which makes it 100%. We can use each of these skills to rebuild a self-sufficient state as it requires an aspect of each of them.

I don’t need to explain the conventional and religious education system but the third type is the one that almost every Afghan is educated with and kind of makes us unique from other nations.

It is the system of education that has been thought to us by our parents, relatives, school teachers, religious teachers, etc.

Did you guess it? This system involves the fictional stories and sayings passed down from generation to generation. We are all being taught so much of this without us even realising. We can almost relate every thing that happens in life to one of the stories or at least a saying.

It is the most effective method of education, because it teaches us how to live our lives. We are taught to learn from everything and anything. We just don’t give it enough credit. It teaches us to learn, so even if you haven’t been told a story about something, you can still relate every thing that occurs to a story from your life to learn or teach from it.

Talking about relating a story to everything, here is an example of learning. This was not my first lesson of the unconventional education but one that kicked started the process of benefiting from it for me.

It was the best present my grand mother ever gave me or could give me. It was on the day I failed my maths test in grad 4 and I was very upset. She repeated it to me almost every day before going to school for almost a year so it is stuck in my head and I remember it at every moment of my life.

"Two little boys worked with a tailor. One day they both request their master (tailor) to let them go to the movie. As they were both hard working and nicely behaved boys, the tailor wanted to treat them anyway so he allowed them to go and gave them some money for the tickets and snacks at the cinema.

When they returned, the master asked them how the movie was... One of them started praising how good the movies was and how much he enjoyed himself... The other one said.. the movie was good and we did enjoy ourselves a lot.. but the cloths that the film stars were wearing looked really good... If we sew few pairs we may make some good money... He added, I have pictures of it in my mind and can draw them up if you like... The master got so happy hearing this that he granted the second boy permission to go to the movies every week... "

At the end she would tell me the moral of this story, which according to her was: Education is not in books, it is in your way of thinking and your way of leaning. Think out of the box, you can learn something from everything. Look at everything as a learning opportunity. Success blinds you and failure opens your eyes...

The moral was long and varied every time but the summary is above. You know what? I have never failed since that last time because I never give up. Every day I think about this story and every time I read it to myself I learn something new from it. There is just one bad thing though.. She said that learning is not just in books but I feel like I have been ignoring her "just" all my life and modified it to, "learning is not in books", I concentrate on learning from practical things more than the books but I am working on it.. I want to fix that balance.

This is the story that drives me to this day and gives me that push to get the message of real education to everyone. Share what I learn every day and learn from what I share..

Well anyhow, it proves my point that every Afghan is educated in at least one way, some more than one.

We think Afghans are not educated enough but we are, which should make us better and more successful than anyone else but sadly we don’t realise this. When we do, there will be no stopping us, we will achieve what no one has achieved so far.

All we need to do is realise what we know and use it for the better. With education, sky is the limit. You learn everyday from everything that happens around us. If we pay attention to it, we can use it to polish up our steps to success.

Sharing is also learning so share what you know with others and you will learn more from what you just taught to another person just by sharing it.

If you still think Afghans are not 100% educated, then share those thoughts with me.

Are we culturally confused?

Article written on 16/04/2007

Have you ever returned from a long holiday and find out that you have so much to catch-up? You were used to a routine and now everything has changed, meaning you have to start all over again and it is going to be even more difficult this time because of the bad hobbits you picked up all those years and the relaxed environment that you got used to during you holiday.

Well with Afghans it is exactly that, except that they didn't go on a holiday to a nice sunny beach but were the victims of war for over three decades. It was a series of war storms that destroyed everything, left millions dead
and disrupted the lives of everyone else.

Afghanistan was a playground for the powerful to play their dirty war game. The game played by the home and away teams. Oh wait a minute there was no home team, it was always the away teams that used Afghanistan as a play ground for the war and the Afghans as footballs to kick them around in order to decide which team wins.

The Russian war destroyed almost everything in the rural areas of the country, then the civil war between the Mujahideen played its part in the honorary work of destruction by destroying the cities, Taliban and Al-Qaeda came and chipped in the destruction and called themselves Muslims.

I always wonder which Islamic book they read. I don't think I will ever get an answer but an educated guess is that they may have been following the book of greed for power and money. I don't know who the writer of that book is but I am guessing the name starts with the letter A and is followed by S and S and that can't be an Islamic book.

So the question still is: What do they mean when they say they are fighting for Islam? Maybe to them the word "Islam" stands for something else and we got the wrong impression of calling the followers of the religion Islam. To my understanding, Islam prevents us from violence and actually stresses a lot on peace and on the understanding of co-existence. I guess it will always be a mystery.

The little that was left was flattened for us by the great Americans.

I hear these things of human rights violation for the prisoners in jail. Forget about the prisoners, at least they are safe in there. If you are free and you are not in America or Europe, you will die of freedom not detention! The prisoners are lucky. Not only are they safe but people actually care about their human rights or so they say.

Why is it that Saddam Hussein got hanged for doing the in-human thing of killing thousands of Kurds while Bush Hussein is still walking around very much alive after killing at least a 100 times more? Who is to answer for that? No one, because if you do, you will be called an Al-Qaeda ally, and you will be punished according to the rules of the War on Terror.

NO, it is actually war on the tearful orphans, widows and the reason again. GREED.
That word seems to haunt me wherever I go.

Anyway back to the sunny beach holiday for Afghans. When the Americans "freed" Afghans from their own started war and their creation "Taliban and Al-Qaeda" the Afghans looked back at the world and saw what has changed. EVERYTHING! The way they used to live is not possible anymore and the way the rest of the world lives… well they don't know how to. The advancement in technology is not so much of a problem; it is the difference in cultural values.

The Afghan culture was fine before and was adapting to the changing world as needed with time, before the war started. There was no time to think about those advancements in the fire of war so people carried on what they did and slowly forgot the real thing. They got used to the culture that is needed in the war. Those who left and went to other countries integrated their hosting county's culture into their own.

The war stopped and, all those Afghans that used to live as if a family together suddenly do not know each other anymore because of their different life styles and cultural values. Everyone wants to believe it is the culture, they adopted is the right one and everyone else is on the wrong.

It is the fight for everyone to try to be normal but there is nothing normal about it. Instead of competing in a normal way, one brother would try to put the other down, just so he could feel higher up at where he is standing
now.

Every family tries to be "the respected family", who has kept its cultural values and are still exactly the same as they were in Afghanistan, decades ago. That is not just it! There is also the competition between families
and individuals for "the best".

To be the best you have to keep up with the world and to do that you may not be able to win the other competition to be the respected family because you wont be able to keep your ancestors' culture because that culture was build much simpler things and not around the fast growing technology..

So to keep up with the current world, you may have to let your wife go to work or your daughter to go to school. Now that wasn't very well defined in the original culture. Some people have adopted it to be ok while others still think it is not and that women should stay at home. It is this difference that has widened the gap between the previously close friends.

This struggle between keeping our originality and keeping up with the world has disturbed the minds of almost every Afghan. Good for the psychology business but very damaging to the development of a new Afghanistan.

That is where the real problem lies, re-building the roads, buildings, technology, army, etc is all minor problems compared to this issue of this cultural depression. It is a problem everyone has to fix within themselves. No one else can do anything about it.

How do we do this? We just need to open your minds up and accept the changes. Let everyone choose for themselves. If someone chooses to live in a certain way then we should let them and our friendship should not be affected by that change.

I am not saying we should give up our stubbornness because there are always two sides to the coin. Afghans are proving to be one the toughest nation and you know why? Because despite all of the damage to our mental health and our mental wellbeing and the cultural confusions we now suffer, we have not lost hope.

The external involvement is still not letting go of Afghanistan and still working very hard to keep us in this mud of ignorance. Afghans are still working towards bringing social and financial stability to the country, which put together means "peace".

Although we are lacking the latest education and do not have the base to build on, but we are still making the best effort possible to get back on our feet and to compete with the rest of the world - a world that has become more advanced in innovative technology than we do, while we were busy getting ourselves out of the so-called war.

It is this stubbornness of, not giving-up attitude that keeps us going; otherwise, three decades of war on any country would be more than enough to completely paralyse the minds of its inhabitants.

What is holding us back is that we apply the same stubbornness when it comes to cultural advancement. If we could be a little bit more flexible in this matter, we will be able to overcome our problems far quicker. Every individual's efforts count. What we need to do is to start with ourselves and work our way up.

It is also important for those who are working alongside Afghans to help with re-construction and bringing back the stability to understand these issues… keeping in mind not to forget these issues in the rush of bringing a quick stability to the country.

A PICTURE OF AFGHANISTAN IN WORDS

Article written on 03/01/2007

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I returned to Afghanistan as a visitor after spending over six years in England.
I had a picture of the new Afghanistan in my mind before setting foot on Afghan soil.

I spent nearly a month with my Afghan people in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.
The picture I had in my mind before I went and the reality I found seemed so far from each other that my original picture now seems like a fairy tale.

Maybe my expectations were too great or maybe the reconstruction is too slow.
Considering the different factors, I’m now leaving Afghanistan with two different pictures in my mind, the sad picture and the happy picture.

I have tried to shed light on both. These are just the outlines of the pictures I have. Detailed pictures may take me years to complete…

THE SAD PICTURE:

Afghanistan, once taking big steps towards becoming a developed country, is now one of the world’s poorest countries. More than three decades of war have destroyed almost every thing including roads, parks, government buildings, houses, army bases, airports, museums , national heritage sites and much, much more.

The list includes everything that was man-made but the loss is not just limited to man-made things.

The natural habitat including forests and large tracks of once beautiful countryside have been decimated by the American bombing and rich agricultural lands used to cultivate crops, fruit and vegetables has been poisoned and useless for any kind of farming in the foreseeable future.

Three generations of Afghan youth have grown up in complete ignorance through a lack of education. The only skill or knowledge most young men have today is how to fight. For young women it is how to cook the recipes their mothers taught them.

Most women have spent their lives like prisoners in their own homes, cooking and cleaning, and the biggest achievement a typical Afghan man can claim to have mastered in his life is to serve food for their families.

Everyone, men and women, spend most of their time talking about things that they do not have control over. It has now become a habit, and can even be classed as culture. Gossiping, answering people back, and wishing people ill-will run through the veins of many Afghans now.

Talking has taken the place of action. Everyone wants to be in charge of bringing about changes and making everything better, but once they are in a position to do this and are given the opportunity to make a difference, they become blinded by selfishness.

Instead of working for their country and its people, they start lining their own pockets. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn’t use money stolen from Afghanistan. The first attempt for anyone with such opportunities is to try and guarantee that their money is in a safe place by transferring it to foreign banks in foreign countries.

Only some get out of their prestigious positions alive. The attempt at making more and more money eventually takes over their lives. Those who are lucky enough to live, leave the country once the government has changed and never hope to return.

However, such “refugee” ex-patriots retain the right to complain about the current government and the current collection of officials not doing anything for the country while forgetting that when they were in a similar position of power, they did exactly the same thing, if not worse.

Our country today lacks almost all those things that even some of the poorest countries in world have. A lonely, fully constructed building is sometimes seen amongst the vast majority of ruins. It still gives a patriot happiness and hope for a better Afghanistan but the culture of praising the last government that was hated by the majority of the population when it was in power, is sadly still at large.

The current government maybe using some of the aid money to rebuild but most people in power are too busy building their own personal profiles and improving their own finances to pay any attention to the needs of the country.

Intellectuals and those who really want to help the country are disappointed by this attitude so they never even consider returning to the country from years of exile. Most people discourage those who want to do something just out of habit or jealousy.

Just because they cannot do what others can, they refuse to support those who do what they can. Considering all of these shortcomings, it is easy to be discouraged, hence we are what we are, and where we are, today.

THE HAPPY PICTURE:

Amongst all these disadvantages and all the things Afghans have gone through during the past three decades of war, there are still many people who are working round-the-clock, day in, day out for the betterment of our homeland.

They are sacrificing everything they have by risking their lives and any financial resources they may still have to repair and restore the country.

I met so many young and old Afghans that are working so hard just so they can rebuild the country and achieve progress in the current world that they have forgotten they also have personal lives to live.

All of this is done, knowing there is no guarantee that tomorrow will be not be the same, possibly even worst, meaning that all their efforts have gone to waste.

But they have so much courage and love for their motherland that they are willing to risk all and refuse to be discouraged by anything. This is a remarkable view of bravery and courage and if there is truly a jihad to be fought, then this is it.

These people are truly fighting a morally acceptable fight to get Afghanistan to a place where it can compete with other developing , or, even better, developed countries in the fields of education, technology and brotherhood.

Seeing the current generation working so hard and with so much courage and bravery makes every Afghan proud and provides them with the encouragement they need to solider on and keep up the good fight.

Among such great individuals, is a young man named Siddique Mansour Ansari. Ansari holds a degree in journalism and a master’s degree in political science. I have never seen a man so active and determined.

He has been offered ministries in Afghanistan but he has never taken them because he thinks they would tie him down and prevent him from what he is already doing in for his country, which is spreading the light of education in Afghanistan.

He is working on an institute to produce quality professionals that are so desperately needed. He is also working on a school system that has no equal on an international level. His aims are so high and his actions are even better.

I can give hundreds of examples of such honourable, brave, motivated and determined people - people who in simple words are ingenious and know how to put their thoughts in to action.

Every investor thinks twice before investing all of their capital into a project that does not have some kind of certainty but I met people who are risking this, not because they are stupid and don't know that they could lose everything they have but just because they don't care if they lose it because they feel so passionately about doing everything they can to improve their beloved country’s economy.

Again, this is not where it stops. I met professionals who, despite all of the discouragements and dangers are returning to Afghanistan to do whatever they can to help their country.

An example of this would be one of BBC's top journalist Ismail Fatimi who used to live comfortably in London with his family but who has returned to Afghanistan permanently after years of exile. He hasn't returned to claim a ministry like many others but to do everyday things which could benefit his country in greater ways.

Seeing a country so shattered and torn by war, still working so hard towards success is like looking at a miracle in action. Afghanistan and its people have gone through so much that few other countries have experienced in recent times.

One would think that all its people would be discouraged and ready to give in to all the misfortunes that they have faced but that is not the case. People are still fighting in the face of all the misfortunes, standing like rocks against all the discouragement, working round-the-clock to take Afghanistan to a level that every Afghan dreams of, carrying within them so much love for their country all the time that it is hard to find the words to fully explain this phenomena.

Their morals are so high that they can not be shaken, even after three decades of war and they are ready and willing to face another three decades if they have to in order to retain and activate their passion for rebuilding Afghanistan.

Seeing how there are people who are not afraid of any kind of failures and disappointments, who are willing to try as many times as they have to, to win through, it gives all Afghans everywhere around the world hope for a brighter future.