Azaranica is a non-biased news aggregator on Hazaras. The main aim is to promote understanding and respect for cultural identities by highlighting the realities they face on daily basis...Hazaras have been the victim of active persecution and discrimination and one of the reasons among many has been the lack of information, awareness, and disinformation.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

ADT, PRT, Coalition Partners meet with Leaders in Jaghori District

Sunday, December 05, 2010

AAF, NATC-A troops deliver aid to Bamiyan

 AAF, NATC-A troops deliver aid to Bamiyan Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jared Walker
Afghan Air Force and NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan troops deliver over 3,600 pounds of supplies as part of a humanitarian assistance mission in Bamiyan province.

BAMIYAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Afghan Air Force airmen and NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan Advisors delivered more than 3,600 pounds of humanitarian aid to Bamiyan province Dec. 23.

Against the backdrop of ancient Buddhist statues found in Bamiyan, AAF and NATC-A troops distributed blankets, jackets, school supplies and soccer balls to the Bayiman Department of Women’s Affairs, though goods were also set aside for a local orphanage and for those villagers who were on hand at the event, said Mahtab Farid, a public diplomacy officer for the State Department.

“There were a lot of women in desperate need that come up to me and asked for help, and this is a good project in helping those needy women,” said Fatimah Kazimey, the director of the department of women’s affairs, commenting on what brought the humanitarian assistance mission to the province.

“It’s such a tremendous feeling, a happy feeling, to be able to help people in need. Especially today, seeing some of the people who showed up to receive the help in person,” she said.

Kazimey said that she believes that the continued support of the AAF and coalition forces shown by humanitarian missions is a must for the betterment of the country and its people.

The experience was not only beneficial for those receiving the aid, but also for the people distributing it; especially for the Afghan Air Force members who made to the trip from the AAF Base in Kabul to be able to deliver the supplies.

“I am very happy to come here and be able to help our people,” Naik Mohammad Yosufi, an Afghan Air Force C-27 pilot who helped fly the aircraft that brought the supplies.

Humanitarian missions help bring the government and people together. By doing missions such as these, Afghans begin to believe that their government is there to help them, and, likewise, become more enthusiastic about helping the government, said Yosufi.

Though only a first step in displaying that support, the mission was still a success for those involved.

“Today's mission was brief but very rewarding. It's a good feeling to deliver things people really need, alongside our fellow Afghan Airmen,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Douglas Lantry, the historian for the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing in Kabul, Afghanistan.

“It's gratifying to be involved in this kind of direct impact on people's everyday lives with a genuine expression of good will. It was a highlight of my deployment,” he said.

Source Link: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/62563/aaf-natc-troops-deliver-aid-bamiyan

Generosity of spirit in a rugged land

Dr Marc Shaw, serving with the NZ armed forces provincial reconstruction team in Bamiyan, on about his experience of a Christmas far from home.
Marc Shaw in Afghanistan. Photo / Supplied.
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Marc Shaw in Afghanistan. Photo / Supplied.

Christmas is coming to Bamiyan. I can tell this, not because people are walking around singing carols of good cheers but because the weather has started to change. Not just an average couple of degrees swing either way, but a severe disruption-of-the-environment-change.
Yesterday was a not unpleasant 4-8C dry tolerable cold, but today was the coldest day that I have experienced on my tour here in Afghanistan with the New Zealand Defence Force. Minus 5C, and that was the high.
Wrapped up warm, I shuffled quickly down to the shower before either my feet, legs or other parts of my body froze.
We joined Colonel Paiman, of the Afghan police, for a traditional Afghan breakfast, which was superb. A two-meat breakfast - kebabs and roast chicken wrapped in naan, with fried eggs. Add a cup of chai (local tea) and it was "wrap your laughing gear around this then".
I enjoyed it, and eating it with other Kiwis and Americans, we took the chance to remind ourselves of what Christmas normally meant in our countries. My eyes glazed over as I thought of hot roast turkey and cold ham, followed by Christmas pudding, pavlova and icecream. The colonel's mouth dropped open when I explained the dishes to him. He hadn't heard of them before.
Ra Koia, our military chaplain, and I talk about the Christmas that we will be having here as we pound the rocks and gravel of the Kiwi base perimeter athletic track, the sun not yet appearing over the tops of the hills.
"We'll be having a service in the morning of Christmas Day after breakfast and the traditional giving of presents to the troops by Santa," he says, winking at me.
He knows that as I am the only one with silver-white hair and beard, it is a sitter that I get to play the "Ho Ho Ho" record over and over on December 25.
"Then I have a whole lot of messages and videos from family back in New Zealand that I know the troops will want to hear and see. I guess there will be a lot of homesickness, and many will want to make phone calls to see how their loved ones are.
"A few tears will flow at both ends of the phone and then wishes of good health will pass along the line. The men and women here of the NZ provincial reconstruction team will hang the phones up a little sad.
"That is when the fun will start for us," he adds with a sparkle in his eye.
"Lunchtime and there will be an all-out effort to enjoy the day. No alcohol on this mission means that all of us will be very clear-headed for our celebrations, but it won't stop us from having fun.
"I also understand that Santa has a few little treats for the Christmas meal as well," he concludes, looking at me.
Showered and alert after my morning exercise, I ask my medical team what being here means to them at Christmas.
Leon, the nursing officer, Blu, the senior medic, and Kat Brown, a patrol medic, and I had gathered in our regimental aid post.
We were having a cup of warm brew. Mention Christmas over here and all of us tend to get a little reflective and moist in the eyes. "Being back home, we have a history of joys and pleasures of the festive season," said Blu. "But being here in a foreign country highlights the distance between us and our partners and kids.
"Christmas in Afghanistan, for me, emphasises the differences in our cultures and the gap that religion creates. It's sad that we will be celebrating, but the local Hazara people won't be."
I thought of what Blu had said and it struck a chord with me.
How grand it would be if we could get the conflict over by Christmas and spend our time here celebrating a lasting peace.
I know that can be considered as a forlorn and unsophisticated wish for a country that has known conflict for 30 years, but I was reminded today that there has been no serious conflict in this Bamiyan region for about eight years. That means there are children in this region who have known nothing but peace. Now that means something.
Especially to us New Zealanders who have been charged with looking after the safety and security of the local population that we are helping rebuild.
We will have a good and spirited Christmas and we will think of you all at home, and we will all hope and pray that we will return safe and sound to New Zealand. Perhaps you may think of us far away from our homes. We believe that where we are and what we are doing will help Afghanistan. Time and our attitude to the local population will decide if we were right.

Source Link: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10696267

Friday, December 24, 2010

In Afghanistan, shifting political fortunes

 

Two members of the Hazara ethnic minority rest between jobs pulling cargo carts in Kabul. Hazaras have long been relegated to menial jobs.
Two members of the Hazara ethnic minority rest between jobs pulling cargo carts in Kabul. Hazaras have long been relegated to menial jobs. (Pamela Constable)


By Pamela Constable
Friday, December 24, 2010
IN KABUL Ethnic chauvinism, which has long bedeviled this fiercely tribal country and fueled a destructive civil war in the early 1990s, is erupting again in a tense dispute over recent parliamentary elections. The poll, held in turbulent wartime conditions, disenfranchised several hundred thousand voters from the ethnic Pashtun majority and unexpectedly empowered the long-persecuted Hazara minority.
The fight has brought the political system to a standstill, pitted fledgling democratic institutions against one another and raised the specter of sectarian strife. It has also further weakened the grip of President Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun, whose ethnic support is splintering under the combined pressure and persuasion of Taliban insurgents based in many rural Pashtun enclaves.
The Hazaras, meanwhile, are feeling their oats. Highly organized and motivated, this fast-rising Shiite Muslim group has essentially become a political party. It is eagerly embracing Afghanistan's imperfect new democratic system as a steppingstone to power while larger, Sunni Muslim ethnic groups remain caught up in personality-based politics and warlord rivalries.
"We have been legally elected, and we are ready to go to parliament. We have the passion of a new generation behind us," said Mohammed Alizada, one of 11 Hazara candidates who swept the elections in Ghazni, winning all seats in the Pashtun-majority province. "We will do our best to represent the whole province," he said. "If our Pashtun brothers failed to vote, perhaps this will be a positive lesson for them in the future."
'No election at all here'
Pashtun leaders in Ghazni, however, assert that they were not given the chance to vote because of Taliban threats and poor security. Several Pashtun legislators from there, stunned after losing their seats, mounted a legal campaign to have the election results overturned nationwide, and the Supreme Court is reviewing the case. Of 249 seats in the lower house, 50 went to Hazaras, an outsize portion of power compared with their numbers.
"There was no election at all here. The Taliban are everywhere, and not a single government employee dares come to work," said Abdul Bari, an educator reached by phone in Ghazni's Andar district. More than 70,000 people registered to vote in Andar, which is virtually all Pashtun, but only three ballots were cast. "I have no doubt the Hazaras are eager to help the province, but 80 percent of the voters were disappointed," Bari said. "We all want the election canceled."
It is a remarkable sign of progress that the contretemps has not come to blows, and that both winning and losing candidates are politely waiting for an official decision. Just 15 years ago, Pashtun and Hazara militias, along with ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks, were slaughtering each other in the streets of Kabul. There were tales of appalling atrocities on all sides, and the grudges run deep.
The Hazara-Pashtun conflict is especially enduring. It parallels both the latent tensions between Afghan Sunnis and Shiites and the regional struggle for influence between Sunni-dominated Pakistan and Shiite Iran. Historically, the more numerous and warlike Pashtuns oppressed the meeker Hazaras, driving them from farmlands and forcing them into menial jobs such as pulling cargo carts.
Prejudice is still rampant, and Hazaras face blatant discrimination. Several Hazara cabinet ministers chosen by Karzai were rejected by parliament earlier this year, one reason Hazaras savored their unexpected success in the September elections. Hazaras are obsessed with educating their children, but Hazara leaders say even their top students are often turned down by Kabul University.
"I have a PhD and many years of experience, but I was rejected for a position at Kabul University. As a minority, we have never gotten our rights," said Amin Ahmadi, dean of two small Shiite colleges in Kabul. Yet he also said it was not "happy news" for Hazaras that the Pashtuns had lost so badly in the legislature. "This is a multiethnic country, and all groups need to be represented," he said. "Our greatest enemy is ethnic nationalism."
In addition to insurgent violence, some Pashtun voters and candidates complained of widespread fraud in the elections and charged that the national election commission was biased. One losing Pashtun candidate in Kabul told friends she received calls offering to declare her a winner if she paid $150,000, and she refused. Yet commission officials insisted that the polling was much fairer than the fraud-plagued presidential poll last year.
"We delivered a well-managed and impartial process, voters made their choices and the results were certified. We are not prepared to change them," said Abdullah Ahmadzai, a commission member. "I am a Pashtun and an appointee of President Karzai, and I can guarantee the nonexistence of political motives in the commission."

Karzai has vowed that a new parliament will be installed on schedule in late January, but it is not clear how the political and legal stalemate will be resolved. The president could ease tensions by giving key Pashtun legislators, who lost in the lower house, consolation seats in the partly appointed upper house.
Torn Pashtun loyalties
Several analysts said Pashtuns hurt themselves in the elections as much as the Taliban hurt them. They said Pashtuns fielded far too many candidates in some areas and did not allow women to vote in others. Pashtuns are also suffering from ambivalent loyalties as the Karzai government flounders and sends out erratic signals on the Taliban, relations with Washington and other issues.
In rural Pashtun areas, the Taliban can often gain a foothold through local clan ties, frustration with government neglect or belief that the insurgents represent Pashtun interests. This gives its militiamen the opportunity to intimidate opponents and persuade fence-sitters that the insurgency has more to offer than the election process does.
"The Pashtuns are fragmented. They don't have a party or a single leader to rally around, so they don't feel inspired to vote. The Hazaras, on the other hand, have turned their entire ethnic group into a political organization," said Ahmad Nader Nadery, who heads an independent election monitoring group. "For them, this was an opening and they took it."
Some Pashtuns complain that the Hazaras' growing clout is a result of financial and political support from Iran, a charge that Hazara leaders deny. These critics also feel betrayed by Karzai, who confirmed recently that he had been accepting cash assistance from Tehran. Public displays of Shiism, once virtually underground, were on bold display throughout Kabul during last week's festival of Muharram, a major Shiite event.
But Hazaras insist that it is their focus on hard work, ethnic unity and keeping the peace that has enabled them to gain political ground. In Ghazni, where Pashtun-majority districts such as Andar were chaotic and cowed on election day, Hazara districts such as Jaghori were calm and orderly, allowing mass voter participation.
"Everyone here wants security, so we don't let the Taliban come in and start trouble. Everything was quiet and 95 percent of people voted," said Hadi Besharat, a teacher reached by phone in Jaghori. "The Pashtuns don't defend themselves the way we do. They are not sure what they want, but we are. We want democracy, not only for Hazaras but for the whole

Source Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/23/AR2010122305262_2.html

Monday, December 20, 2010

Holbrooke’s advice

 

This refers to the editorial, “Holbrooke’s advice” (Nov. 17). There can be a dispute over whether Holbrooke advised for an end to the war in Afghanistan or not.

By MASOOD KHAN, JUBAIL

But most of the people around the world feel that this directionless destructive war should be brought to an immediate end. I disagree with the editorial’s concluding note that the US should get engaged with insurgents to strike a deal for a dignified exit (for Americans) and leave the mess to the Afghans (to deal with). This is exactly what happened in 1988 when both the Soviets and the US left Afghanistan without wasting any time. Then what happened in Afghanistan between 1989 and 1996 till the Taleban took over Kabul, and also between 1996 and 2001 till the Americans took over Kabul, is well documented. Do we want to make the same mistake — leave the war-torn country to its warlords and enjoy another decade of civil war?
Should we forget the treatment of women at the hands of the Taleban, should we forget the massacre of Hazara civilians in Mazar-e-Sharif and in the surrounding Hazarajats, should we also forget the execution of innocent civilians, the burning down of the villages and crops of opponents, the widespread beating of men and boys not sporting beards or daring to question them? There were countless massacres that the Taleban committed against non-Pashtun ethnic groups including Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and other religious/sectarian minorities. Their rivals — the Northern Alliance — are also not innocent; we have seen the systematic destruction of Kabul and the indiscriminate killing of civilians during their time as well.
We don’t see any peace coming to Afghanistan as a result of a hasty US exit. Such a move will put any peace prospects at risk not only in Afghanistan but also in all of its neighboring countries, particularly in Pakistan. The Pakistani Taleban will get full support from their Afghan counterparts to establish their rule at least in Pakistan’s northern Pashtun-dominated areas. We have seen a trailer of this horrible bleak movie in 2009 when the Taleban-ruled Swat valley for a short while.
There is no short cut for the Americans to leave Afghanistan and then expect the region not to get into another cycle of bloodbath. The international community should not allow the Americans to leave unless they manage to clean the mess they created in the 1980s.

Link to source: http://arabnews.com/opinion/letters/article218504.ece?comments=all

Sunday, December 19, 2010

A Job Done Well

The Balochistan government is appreciable for arranging foolproof security during this year’s Moharram. All the processions meant to pay respect to Hazrat Imam-e-Hussein, a grandson of Prophet Mohammad (SAW) who embraced martyrdom in Karbala (Iraq) in the 7th century, passed smoothly without any untoward incident taking place in the provincial capital. Owing to the worsening state of law and order and mounting sectarian violence in Quetta,  masses as well as the officials considered this year as a major challenge to ensure a peaceful passage of this significant event.
The main Moharram processions started from Punjabi Imam Bhargah on Alamdar Road. Headed by Dawood Shah, the vice president of Balochistan Shia Conference, the main mourning procession was joined by at least 27 smaller processions which had been taken out from other Imambargahs located in various parts of the city. Passing through Thogi and Mission roads, the procession reached at Mizan Chowk where top Shia scholars delivered sermons. They paid tributes to the sacrifices of Hazrat Imam-e-Hussein.
Throughout the mourning procession, personnel from Balochistan police, Balochistan Constabulary, Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) and the Frontier Corps (FC) provided security to the grand religious gathering. Besides the heavy deployment of security personnel, seventy-five secrete cameras were installed at host of locations to monitor the activities of terrorists who had succeeded in the past to break into the security and cause enormous loss to human lives by perpetrating terrorist activities. In addition, aerial  surveillance of the Moharram was also arranged as a part of the government security plan.
The smooth and peaceful passage of Moharram procession has delighted the government  as well as the people of the province who have taken a sigh of relief. Balochistan has recently seen an upsurge in the sectarian killings. While the Sunni and Shia members of the community, by and large,  live happily in Balochistan in an atmosphere of harmony and mutual respect, a small but organized group of Sunni militants affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has posed a very serious threat to this concordant relationship. Repeated killings and frequent suicide bombings on such processions have plunged the entire Shia/Hazara community in a state of insecurity.
With the intensification of sectarian violence, the government has had to take extraordinary security measures which did not always prove to be painless for the masses. Several days prior to the Moharram processions, personnel from law enforcement agencies would every year conduct search operations at different hotels, check the identification documents of guests and inquire about the purpose of their stay. Likewise, shopkeepers would be strictly instructed to shut down their businesses several hours before the usual closure timing. Several roads should also get closed causing major disruption of traffic in some parts and an increase in people’s troubles while traveling to different parts of the city.
The government of Balochistan, mainly the police department and the Frontier Crops (FC) deserve to be admired for maintaining order during this year’s Moharram. Likewise, moderate religious scholars from Sunni and Shia sects, and the media must be eulogized for constantly striving to build trust, respect and cooperation among all peace loving followers of Islam. The people of Balochistan justifiably deserve and anticipate more such success stories of religious tolerance and foolproof security arrangements.

Link to source: http://www.thebalochhal.com/2010/12/editorial-a-job-done-well/

Balochistan’s Sectarian War

By Ejaz Haider
Twenty minutes into landing at a chilly Quetta and en route to a meeting, the BlackBerry beeped: “CM just survived a suicide attack.” Some start to a four-day visit to Balochistan, I muttered to myself grimly, and dialled the source to get details.
Nawab Aslam Raisani had got out of Sarawan House and was headed towards the Assembly when, at the Saryab Road railway crossing, a suicide bomber blew himself up. Raisani remained safe because of the armour plating of his vehicle, but some officials in his security detail as also a few unfortunate passersby were injured, some critically.
Three different groups took responsibility: Lashkar-e Jhangvi, the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, and the Balochistan United Liberation Front. Malik Iqbal, Inspector-General Police Balochistan told me that the BLUF was bluffing because, while it was early to pin down responsibility, the modus operandi was that of sectarian terrorists that either operate on their own or in cahoots with the TTP. He could be right because the crime scene confirmed the attack was mounted by a suicide bomber whereas the BLUF spokesperson said the group had used a remote-controlled device.
The temperature in Quetta was sub-zero but the city reminds one of T S Eliot’s phrase frigid fires given the simmering sectarian, ethnic and linguistic fault-lines. “During these days, sectarian terrorism is our biggest concern,” IGP Iqbal said to me as we ate lunch from boxes from Usmania Tandoori Restaurant. He is right. With Yaum-e Ashur just days ahead, Quetta is tense and trying to put together an elaborate security plan.
But fear of the unknown, someone sneaking into the Moharram procession and blowing himself up, pervades the city. “An untoward incident would have repercussions. We have buried too many people over the last four years and the youth is preparing for retaliation,” a Hazara elder told me in the Marriabad locality of Quetta that lies in the foot of Koh-e Murdaar range.
Hazaras, descendents of the Mongols, predominantly comprise the city’s shia population. Having migrated from Hazarajat in western Afghanistan, they are a hardy and socially mobile minority, with a much higher literacy rate than other communities. They generally enlist in the army and the police and can also be found in the civil services. General Musa Khan, President Ayub Khan’s commander-in-chief, was a Hazara.
As I sat in the house of his grandson Sardar Mehdi Hasan Musa, a tall businessman who now lives in Karachi and visits Quetta occasionally, I could see that the Hazaras pride themselves on their Mongol identity and consider Changiz Khan their patriarch. There are several theories about how and when they converted to shiaism but the majority now, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, is shia.
“Have you been to the Martyrs’ graveyard?” Musa asked me. “Yes, I have,” I replied. Earlier in the day I had driven there. There are two graveyards where the Koh-e Murdaar range begins to get diminutive. One, to the side of the main graveyard, is dedicated to those killed in several sectarian attacks. “You can see how many have been murdered,” my guide had said to me. Nearly four hundred it seems since 2006.
“My father, Sardar Mohammad Hasan Musa, was killed by LJ in Karachi in 1997,” Musa told me as we sat cross-legged on the carpet in the living room. His house in Karachi’s Defence area was also attacked. I wanted to see the route of the Moharram procession and was given a tour of the area. The procession starts on Aalamdar Road near Nachari Chowk and then turns towards Wafa Road on the right and moves on to Toghi Road and goes to Mezan Chowk on Liaquat Road before returning via Prince and Mechongi Roads back to Alamdar.
It is not a very long route and the head and tail of the procession meet at the peak of the mourning. But the area is difficult to monitor against a suicide bomber bent on killing those he considers apostates. There are small alleys along the route and the area has shops owned by Pashtun businessmen. “The problem is that in case of any such incident, the retaliation could lead to a fire-fight between the Hazaras and the Pashtun,” my Hazara guide told me. He pointed out that the Pashtun are not really a party to the sectarian conflict but “anything can happen when emotions are running high”.
This has already happened. The attack on the Yaum al-Quds rally brought out by the Hazaras killed 17 shia. But then firing started and the toll went much higher. “The LJ activists operating in this area are mostly Baloch,” the IGP said. One of the most wanted sectarian terrorists, Saifullah Kurd, belongs to Mastung, the district southeast of Quetta.
An intelligence officer who did not want to be named said the Iranians are actively funding the shia population and have managed through money and proselytising to convert some Kurds to shiaism. “They have also given money to build some imambargahs,” he said. This was corroborated by Fasih Iqbal, a veteran journalist and editor of Balochistan Times . It seems like the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia is hotting up in this area also. Further south and southwest, there is Jundallah which, according to Iran and various newspaper reports, is being funded by the Americans and the Saudis to foment trouble in Sistan-Baluchistan, the Iranian side of Balochistan.
There is some truth in this because while officials do not admit that Pakistan is looking the other way as Jundallah gets funds from the Saudis and the Americans, they counter by pointing out Indian activity through its consulate in Zahidan which goes unabated under Iranian patronage. The sectarian proxy war in this case links up with other issues of concern for the states in the region. But the sectarian issue itself is becoming big and has already taken much toll of the Hazaras.
The day after I had met with the IGP, someone killed a police sub-inspector in Quetta while he was on patrol duty. As I went to the spot to get details, I was not much surprised to be told that he was a Bangash shia from Hangu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, an area that has already been hit by terrorists, on December 10, in the build-up to Yaum-e-Ashur. “It does seem like the sectarian terrorists have very good intelligence on shias,” I said to another police officer. “Yes, they do,” was the grim, staccato answer.
I mentioned this to journalists in Quetta while sipping kehwa at the Quetta Press Club where I had come to witness a protest gathering by the Baloch agitating the issue of missing persons. Ali Shah, the Dawn News bureau chief, said the fear of what might happen on the 10th of Moharram was real. “We have seen the shia being struck too often,” Shah said. Like other journalists, he is convinced that an attack makes perfect sense for those who want to destabilise the state further.
An officer who deals with internal security told me that Jundallah was now linked up with LJ and the latter had also some operational and logistical connections with Baloch nationalist groups. “The Baloch groups move back and forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan through Pashtun territory and they have some arrangement with the TTP; they also have the Baloch connection with Baloch terrorists from LJ. The idea is to help each other to destabilise the state,” he said.
But this is precisely why it is important to rethink some policies, which is not happening. In the middle of the broader game which involves internal and external actors, one hopes, desperately, that the coming 10th of Moharram, Friday December 17 to be precise, sees no untoward incident in Quetta. But the hope, given the situation, may be unfounded. (Courtesy: The Friday Times, Lahore)