AFGHANISTAN
Language
Afghanistan has two official languages: Dari (Afghan Persian), which is spoken by about half the population, and Pashto (the language of the Pashtuns), which is spoken by about a third of the population. Poetry written in Pashto dates back to the first century A.D. There are thousands of two- and four-line folk poems written by women about their lives. Dari was spoken, but not written, for hundreds of years. Now both languages are written in the flowing cursive letters of Arabic, from right to left on the page. Today, Dari is the language of the political and business world. In addition to Dari and Pashto, there are more than 30 other languages spoken in Afghanistan.
Can You Say It in Dari?
Hello Salaam (sah-LOHM)
Good-bye Kodah hafez (koh-DAH hah-FEZ)
How are you? Khubus ti? (KHOOB as-TEE)
Thank you Tashakkur (ta-shak-KUR)
Yes Ah (ah)
No Ne (ney)
Religion
Islam is the official religion of Afghanistan. About 80 percent of Afghans are Sunni Muslims and 19 percent are Shi‘i Muslims.
Islamic teachings influence every aspect of Afghan life, from the food Afghans eat to the candidates they vote for in elections. Muslims pray five times a day facing the holy city of Mecca (in Saudi Arabia), and they do not eat pork or drink alcohol. Muslims believe that Allah (God) controls everything and that everything happens according to his will. This strong faith helps Afghans accept a very hard life.
The Great Game
In the 19th century, Afghanistan became the center of a struggle for land and influence between the British and Russian empires. The competition became known as the Great Game. At the time, Afghanistan served as a buffer (an area separating warring parties) between the Russian empire and British India. Russia longed to gain access to warm-water ports in the Indian Ocean, while Britain sought to deny the Russians access to their prized Indian colony.
Both superpowers resorted to spying on each other. They also tried to make allies (friends or supporters) among the Afghan people, but then turned those allies against each other. These tactics resulted in conflicts between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, its neighbor, as well as divisions between Afghanistan’s ethnic groups, such as the Pashtuns, the Tajiks, and the Hazaras. After three wars, British forces left Afghanistan in 1919. Afghanistan became an independent nation two years later.
Soviet Invasion-1979
After gaining independence, Afghanistan attempted to rebuild. Because Britain and the United States were both allies of Pakistan, Afghanistan looked to the Soviet Union for help. The Soviet army trained the Afghan military and gave them weapons in the hopes that communism (a system in which the government controls economic production) would take firm root in Afghanistan. The relationship between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan strengthened over the next several years until Afghan communists staged a military coup (overthrow of the government) in 1978. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan the following year (1979) in order to support the new communist government. Armed rebel groups, under the direction of Muslim leaders, fought the Soviet-backed government. The Soviet-Afghan war turned into a bloodbath, killing more than 1.5 million people, and sending another 6 million refugees (people who flee to another country to escape danger or persecution) to Pakistan and Iran. The war lasted 1979-1988.
Holy Warriors
In this atmosphere of violence and anger, several of the rebel groups announced a jihad (holy war) on the communist government. These Islamic rebels, who called themselves mujahideen (holy warriors), set up training camps in small towns along the Pakistani border. The Afghan government had a hard time maintaining a strong army because many Afghans deserted to join the mujahideen once they had received their weapons. The Soviet army buried landmines across the countryside to target mujahideen troops. They also conducted mass aerial bombings of villages, attempting to destroy rebel camps.
After the Soviet invasion, the United States offered guns and aid to the mujahideen. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also supported a Pakistani plan to recruit more Islamic radicals from all over the world to help in the war against the Soviets. By the time Mikhail Gorbachev became the Soviet leader, the war had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and the Soviet people no longer wanted their army to be in Afghanistan. Gorbachev decided to withdraw Soviet troops from Afghanistan. In 1988, Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, the United States, and Pakistan signed a peace agreement in Geneva, Switzerland, promising not to interfere any longer in Afghan affairs.
The communist government remained in power for three years after the Soviet withdrawal. But the government fell to the mujahideen in April 1992. Although the mujahideen were able to get along with each other briefly, disagreements over how Afghanistan should be run led to conflict. During the civil war that followed, ( 1992-1994) thousands of civilians were killed and millions of Afghans sought refuge in neighboring Pakistan and Iran. The intense fighting and destruction made life almost unbearable in major Afghan cities like Kabul and Kandahar.
The Taliban
Out of these terrible conditions, the Taliban (students of Islamic knowledge) came to power. They promised to restore peace and order to the war-torn land. Taliban fighters took control of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar in 1994 and, with support from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, captured the capital of Kabul two years later(1996). The Taliban strictly controlled people’s lives, taking away many of their freedoms. Purdah (the practice of keeping women secluded so they can’t be seen by men) was reintroduced. Afghan women were also required to cover themselves fully when there was a chance that they might be seen by men outside of their own families. The Taliban closed all secular (non-religious) and private schools and banned women and girls from attending any school at all. Sharia (Islamic law) was imposed, including punishments such as amputations, public shootings, and stonings for some offenses.
In 1996, Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden returned to Afghanistan as a guest of the Taliban. Bin Laden had fought in Afghanistan against the Russians in the 1980s. Now he supported a global jihad (holy war) and spoke out in favor of attacks against the United States and its allies. He set up jihadist training camps near Kabul, attracting Muslims from many different countries. Some of them joined a world wide terrorist network known as al-Qaeda, which grew out of a group bin Laden had established for Arab veterans of the war against the Soviets. On 11 September 2001, terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The United States, along with several other countries, immediately took military action to remove the Taliban from power. By the end of the year, they had accomplished their goal, and an interim (temporary) government was in place.
Rebuilding a Nation
Afghanistan’s government faces many problems as it attempts to rebuild the country. One is controlling the warlords, many of whom have their own private armies. Convincing the warlords to set aside their differences and work together under a national government is a very difficult task. Another challenge is trying to satisfy the demands of all the different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Troops from the United States and other countries are helping to establish security in the country and round up Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
Locally elected and tribal officials met in June 2002 to create a two-year transitional government. They chose Hamid Karzai as president. A constitution was approved in January 2004, and Karzai won presidential elections in October 2004. His administration is working to reconstruct a devastated infrastructure, bridge longstanding differences among the nation's tribes, and combat a lucrative drug trade. Troops from the United States and other nations continue operations to establish security and fight Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. Although Karzai won a second term in 2009, the elections were fraught with allegations of fraud, which undermined confidence in the results.
Protests broke out in early 2012 outside the Bagram Air Base after copies of the Qurʾan were discarded by troops and ended up in a nearby burn pit. Violence surrounding the protests resulted in the deaths of more than 30 Afghan civilians and coincided with increased attacks against U.S. troops. Relations between the U.S. military and Afghans were further complicated when a U.S. soldier killed 17 civilians in a rogue attack, and the use of drone strikes by the U.S. military continues to be controversial.
Recent Events and Trends
Presidential elections: Afghans participated in the country's first open presidential election in April 2014 and again in a runoff election in June. Challenges to this election included violence against voters and reports of voting irregularities like ballot-box stuffing. After a total ballot recount, Ashraf Ghani was declared the winner in September 2014. He formed a new government and appointed Abdullah Abdullah as the chief executive officer, a new position that shares power with the president.
Afghan peace talks: In July 2015, the Taliban elected a new leader after the death of the group's founder, Mullah Omar, was confirmed. Peace talks with the Taliban have been postponed following the announcement of the new leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. Divisions within the militant group threaten the continuance of peace talks with the Afghan government.
•Civilian casualties: In July 2017, the UN reported a record number of Afghan civilian casualties during the first half of 2017, with 1,662 people killed and 3,581 wounded. Earlier in 2017, the UN published a report of the total civilian casualties during 2016: 3,498 deaths and 7,920 injured. Civilian casualties have been steadily increasing in recent years, with the last two years seeing a notable increase in the deaths of women and children. While the Taliban and other anti-government forces are responsible for most civilian deaths, operations led by the Afghan government and international forces like the United States have also resulted in significant civilian casualties. Since the UN first began recording Afghan civilian casualties in 2009, they have documented more than 26,500 deaths and nearly 40,000 wounded.
AFGHANISTAN TIMELINE
1919: Afghanistan achieves independence from British
1933: Zahir Shah becomes king and Afghanistan remains a monarchy for the next forty years
1957: Afghan women are allowed to study at universities and work in public for the first time
1964: Afghanistan becomes a constitutional monarchy, but many Muslims oppose it
1973: Mohammad Daud becomes president and declares the country a republic
1978: Afghan communists organize a military coup (overthrow of the government) and seize control of the government
1980: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, installing Babrak Karmal as ruler
1986: The United States supports the mujahideen (holy warriors), Afghan rebels fighting the Soviet-backed national government
1988: Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, the United States, and Pakistan sign a peace agreement in Geneva, Switzerland; Soviet troops begin to leave the country
1996: Fundamentalist Taliban fighters take control of Kabul, imposing a strict form of sharia (Islamic law)
1999: The United Nations imposes sanctions (restrictions on trade and economic development) on Afghanistan because the Taliban refuses to turn over Osama bin Laden for trial
2001: U.S. and British forces launch air attacks against the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks- Operation Enduring Freedom
2004: The Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) adopts a new constitution that gives the president more power; Hamid Karzai becomes the first democratically elected president
2005: Afghanistan holds the first parliamentary elections in over 30 years
2009: Troops from the United States and other nations continue to look for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants
2010: Top Afghan Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is captured in Pakistan
2011: United States troops begin to withdraw.
2014:About 7 million Afghans defy Taliban intimidation and participate in the country's first open election to elect a president; landslides kill at least 2,000 people in northeastern Afghanistan.
All info from: CULTUREGRAM
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here is a list of rules the Taliban have for women:
· Women should not appear in the streets without a blood relative or without wearing a Burqa
· Women should not wear high-heeled shoes as no man should hear a woman’s footsteps lest it excite him.
· Women must not speak loudly in public as no stranger should hear a woman’s voice
· All ground and first floor residential windows should be painted over or screened to prevent women being visible from the street. A Taliban representative explained that “the face of a woman is a source of corruption for men who are not related to them”.
· The photographing or filming of women was banned as was displaying pictures of females in newspapers, books, shops or the home.
· The modification of any place names that included the word “women.” For example, “women’s garden” was renamed “spring garden”.
· Women were forbidden to appear on the balconies of their apartments or houses.
· Ban on women’s presence on radio, television or at public gatherings of any kind.
· They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperone, which led to illnesses remaining untreated.
· The Taliban allowed and in some cases encouraged marriage for girls under the age of 16. Amnesty International reported that 80 percent of Afghan marriages were considered to be by force.
· Brightly colored clothes were also banned as they were viewed as sexually attracting; a characteristic most unsuitable for women to display.
· White shoes were forbidden because white was the color of the Taliban flag.
· The Taliban rulings regarding public conduct placed severe restrictions upon a woman’s freedom of movement and created difficulties for those who could not afford a burqa or didn’t have any mahram. These unfortunate women faced virtual house arrest. A woman who was badly beaten by the Taliban for walking the streets alone stated “my father was killed in battle…I have no husband, no brother, no son. How am I to live if I can’t go out alone?”
· Ban on women riding bicycles or motorcycles, even with their mahrams(a close blood relative, husband, or in-law).
· Women were forbidden from riding in a taxi without a mahram.
· Segregated bus services introduced to prevent males and females traveling on the same bus
· On September 30th 1996 the Taliban decreed that all women should be banned from employment. It is estimated that 25 percent of government employees were female, and when compounded by losses in other sectors, many thousands of women were affected. This had a devastating impact on household incomes, especially on vulnerable or widow headed-households which were common in Afghanistan.