Conflict, Education, and Development: Perspectives from Afghanistan

Reza Ehsan, PhD candidate, South Asian University

 Afghanistan has endured more than five decades of war and conflict, and the repercussions of war can be felt across every facet of society, particularly in the realm of education and development. When I refer to development, I am not solely addressing economic development but development in a broader sense. The development process either stagnated or slowed down due to the prolonged conflicts.

Conflict, education, and development are intertwined and interlinked. The connection is strong yet not overly complicated to comprehend. There is a profound connection between conflict and the ability of a society to provide quality education, and low-quality education can be one of many root causes of conflict. As far as development is concerned, education serves as the cornerstone. A robust connection exists between education and health, education and human capital development, education and economic growth, and so forth.

For example, focusing solely on economic development or growth, one can argue that education imparts individual knowledge and skills, preparing individuals for the workforce and enabling them to adapt to new technologies and industries. Education can impact economic growth through increased productivity, fostering innovation and creativity, promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment, and improving governance, among other factors. However, the impact depends on the type of education received or provided by society. This area might be familiar to you, but I wish to discuss it from Afghanistan's perspective.

The type of education matters. Is it a traditional, old education system or religious, liberal, secular, or critical education? When discussing education, it is crucial to recognize that education and the institutions providing it are not neutral. Michel Foucault argues that knowledge or education is not neutral; it has a relationship with power, and power dictates the terms of knowledge production. In other words, power produces knowledge, shaping discourses, instruments, and tools for knowledge production, ultimately influencing the ideas and mindsets of people. Other intellectuals, such as Paulo Freire and Noam Chomsky, have emphasized the impact of educational systems and pedagogies on individuals. Paulo Frair argues that traditional/uncritical education is oppressive. Uncritical education perpetuates some of the social inequalities and marginalizes certain groups and classes of people. He emphasized the importance of critical education and critical thinking. The relationship between teacher and student should be a relationship between equals, and it should be democratic.

Further, Noam Chomsky argues that present traditional education trains individuals to be conformist and obedient; it teaches individuals not to think critically. He says that the goal of education should be to produce human beings whose values are not the accumulation of domination but free associations on equal terms. Education must teach students critical thinking skills, he adds.

Considering what Foucault, Paulo Freire, and Noam Chomsky have stated about power dynamics, knowledge creation, critical education, and more, I want to delve into Nationalistic Education in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has undergone numerous regime changes over the past 5-6 decades, each bringing a different education system. We transitioned from a traditional education system to a communist one, followed by religious education and eventually a semi-liberal post-2001 education. Religious education, in particular, tends to promote a single narrative without encouraging critical thinking. In religious education, you don't think critically. For example, if you are talking about communism, you don't discuss ideas and theories; you say that communism is equal to atheism and atheism is evil.

Similarly, the communist regime had its textbooks promoting leftist theories. Post-2001, the education system became more nationalistic, as noted by Yahia Biaza, an intellectual from Afghanistan. High school history books propagated a nationalistic narrative, often rooted in ethnonationalism, presenting a biased view of kings and elites as heroes while ignoring their cruelties and oppression. This one-sided narrative has contributed to conflicts in the past century. Our high school history books indoctrinate students to learn the state's nationalistic narrative. It does not talk about the cruelties and oppression of kings and rulers. Post-2001, the education system became even more nationalistic. History books do not talk about the mass killing and brutalities of King Abdur Rahman in the 1890s. They only say King Abdur Rahman did everything and used any means to strengthen his government. It does not talk about the Genocide of Hazaras and other ethnic groups in the hands of Abdul Rahman. Part of our conflict in the past century has been because of these kinds of narratives. The religious rulers portrayed their opponents in their school and Madrassa texts as infidels and evils, and the communist regimes tried to do the same to religious groups. The nationalistic textbooks and history books have been denying the pain and suffering of different and diverse ethnic groups and have been pushing for one narrative. Critical thinking and critical education have been missing from our state textbooks and curricula.

Currently, as of post-15 August 2021, the educational system has transitioned towards religious education. Opportunities for education and employment have been restricted for women. The de facto government is changing the curricula and making them “Islamic,” causing challenges for women and girls who are experiencing difficulties in accessing educational and work opportunities.

Post-2001 changes in Afghanistan brought some positive aspects to the education sector, such as the emergence of private education. During this period, hundreds of private high schools and universities emerged. Unlike public schools, private educational institutions did not strictly adhere to the state's narrative. However, the nationalistic tilt persisted in public schools, where history books glorified historical figures involved in invasions. This nationalistic education fuelled a sense of pride and nationalism among students but also created a stark contrast with perspectives in other countries. I did my schooling at a public high school; we were taught in history books that Mohammad Ghori and Ahmad Shah Durrani were our heroes. They attacked India several times, captured lands, and took millions worth of wealth as war bounty. However, when I came to India for my undergraduate degree, in my discussion with classmates and friends, I understood that people here have the opposite feelings about them. Those people invaded India and killed people.

Critical education and exposure to different worldviews are crucial for a better understanding of the world. Higher education in a foreign country is one effective way to achieve this. Scholarship programs, exchange programs, and self-financed education in different countries offer numerous benefits, including building a global network, fostering mutual understanding, exposing students to diverse learning systems, expanding employment opportunities, language acquisition, adaptability, and cultural learning.

Returning to the main topic, I argue that our uncritical educational system is one of the biggest reasons for our conflicts and static situation. Lacking robust curriculums and qualified educators and embracing traditional, religious, and nationalistic education have contributed to conflict, impacting our development process. We need critical education, compassionate educators, and exposure to different educational systems and global cultures.

 

Growing Trend of Majoritarian Authoritarianism in South Asia

 

Reza Ehsan & Sapna Goel
Published at: The Geopolitics
Can be reached:
https://thegeopolitics.com/growing-trend-of-majoritarian-authoritarianism-in-south-asia/

While it is no secret that majoritarian nationalism, culminating in Donald Trump becoming the US president in 2016 and Brexit in the UK, is swiftly taking over most parts of the world, South Asia proves to be most prone to it. The forces of majoritarianism are changing the region to a dystopia, through divisive electoral politics and undermining of democratic institutions, which was difficult to imagine by the turn of the century.   

South Asia is becoming the antithesis to the values for which the region needs to stand for. The chain of events in parts of South Asia paints a very unfortunate picture of the region. The ruling government in India is growing intolerant towards all kinds of dissent against government policies or certain legislations. As both the houses of Parliament passed the new Citizenship Amendment Bill aka CAB in December last year, protests have been held across different parts of the country by different student-based organisations and other groups for a variety of concerns. The Bill grants citizenship to individuals who are Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain or Parsi who entered India from Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan before December 2014. While in the North-East ethnic groups fear of cultural dominance by the migrants from Bangladesh, in rest of India, the act is being opposed for being against the Muslim community, the largest minority in the country. However, the dissent has been suppressed by the ruling party resorting to different means including banning the internet in areas where protests were being held, huge deployment of troops and imposition of Section 144 prohibiting assembly of five or more persons when unrest is anticipated in the name of maintaining law and order. 

The same trend is consistent across other countries of the region. In Afghanistan, at least three nationwide protests against the ruling National Unity Government have been suppressed by the use of force. The security demands raised in the 2015 Tabassum Movement, a movement led by the members of the Hazara community and born out of frustration of people after beheading of Tabbasum, a 9 years old girl with her 6 other co-travellers, was not received very well by the government. In 2016, The Enlightening Movement was born when the government re-routed a power line from the central province, the Hazarajat to northern provinces. The government failed to prevent the coordinated suicide attacks by the member of ISIS-Khorasan killing close to a hundred people, which many Hazaras see the National Unity Government secretly involved. The indifference of the government towards the community coupled with its discriminatory policies in aid and developmental budget distribution motivated the Taliban to launch deadly attacks against the Hazaras in Uruzgan, Malistan and Jaghori leading to killings of hundreds and several thousand displacements. The Uprising for Change Movement born out of frustration with the government failing to provide security triggered by a lethal car bombing attack near Kabul’s Zanbaq junction in May 2017 was met by a brutal crackdown by the police. The government in Afghanistan pays no heed to the plight of minority communities. The long-persecuted Sikh community only recently came under attack in Jalalabad city, causing the community to consider the option of mass migration out of Afghanistan. 

Additionally, besides the dissenting voices on the streets are being crushed, there is ample evidence to show that discriminations and ethnic bias may be very systematic. In Afghanistan, the already limited opportunities available to minorities are given in favour of the traditionally powerful Pashtun community. Leaked memo from the office of president in 2017 is suggestive of how appointments are being made based on the ethnic lines. In 2018, the government forced 164 military generals into early retirement under reform pretext, the majority of whom belonged to non-Pashtun ethnic groups. 

In Pakistan, also ethnic and religious minorities are targeted and the state has not been able to protect them. Hazara Community of Pakistan has been persecuted and targeted several times in Quetta, each time many have been killed and injured. While at the same time the level of tolerance against Christian, Hindus and Ahmadia religious groups has been declining as many face religious persecution due to blasphemy laws and political motives. In Bangladesh also persecution of religious and ethnic minorities has happened repeatedly. The case of persecution of the Chakma tribe is one such example. 

Morbid electoral politics 

There is a growing threat to the idea of electoral democracy. We see an increasing trend where elections are largely fought on sentiments with which the majority community of the country aligns with. The popular sentiments of people on religious and ethnic issues are being appropriated for political gains while diverting people’s attention away from other relevant socio-economic issues. Nationalism, based on religion or ethnicity, as opposed to civic nationalism, has become the dominating ideology. This is almost the case of most of the South Asian countries. In India, the core issues such as the promises to abrogate article 370, which gave special status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and building of Ram Mandir in a disputed site in Ayodhya formed the basis for a comfortable victory for the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) giving the party a second term at the National level. Keeping the promises, BJP abrogated article 370 in August 2019 and the Supreme court of India cleared grounds for making Ram Mandir, however, both these developments have been challenged by several political parties and organisations on various grounds including their constitutional validity, bypassing the voices of a significant section of people from Jammu and Kashmir and hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community. 

At the same time, army operations such as the airstrikes conducted by the Indian Army in Balakot, Pakistan, in response to the attack in Pulwama region of Kashmir by a suicide-bomber belonging to a Pakistan-based terrorist group have been hugely publicised for political gains. In Sri Lanka as well, the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks created deep insecurities among the Sri Lankans as the relative peace enjoyed by the country since the conclusion of the nearly three-decade-long conflict in 2009 ended with the attack. The attack led to increased violence against Muslim households, and Muslim businesses were boycotted. The Easter attacks also led to the heightened political discourse around majoritarian Nationalism and have been hugely publicised for political gains as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa secures victory with 52.25 per cent of the vote with the majority of the electorate from the Sinhala-Buddhist group.

In Afghanistan, after several delays, the presidential elections were held on 28-September 2019. The campaign in elections has been driven entirely on ethnic lines while ignoring the socio-economic issues. Widespread electoral fraud, mismanagement and institutional shortcomings have eroded people’s faith in the institutions of democracy. 

Undermining the democratic Institutions 

In India, we see that the ruling government has also been interfering in the independent working of several notable constitutional and statutory institutions. Although healthy discussions between political parties and institutions are always welcome and are required as well, however, many institutions have accused the government of interfering in matters for political ends. In January 2018, four senior judges of the Supreme Court held a press conference to issue a warning about the mishandling of sensitive cases by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra and its dangers for Indian democracy. In October 2018, Viral Acharya, deputy governor of RBI expressed concerns about the attempts made by the ruling government to undermine the regulator’s independence. Ruling in favour of Hindus in the case of Ayodhya indicates that democratic institutions such as Indian high court are vulnerable to the influence of majoritarian nationalism. 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Geopolitics.

---

Reza Ehsan and Sapna Goel are PhD Scholars in Economics Department at South Asian University, New Delhi. Can be reached at: sapnagoel183@gmail.com, mreza.ehsanghori@gmail.com

Afghan Refugees in India in the Time of Covid-19

 Reza Ehsan and Sapna Goel

Published at: The Geopolitics
Can be reached: https://thegeopolitics.com/afghan-refugees-in-india-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR0Ldi847mtu4-o8V5yBBDgb0I2Cv8pR389IyHeMOO9t2cE0JXhocmtG7nE

The lockdown in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has put all of us at risk in terms of financial, mental and physical health. However, the vulnerable groups including informal wage workers, farmers and refugees bear the brunt of the crisis.

As Delhi enters the 3rd phase of lockdown, living a hand to mouth life most of the Afghan refugees residing in the national capital struggles to meet their ends. As per UNHCR (2014), there are around 14,000 Afghan refugees living in India, which for most is a transit country to reach their final destination. They are mainly residing in various parts of Delhi-Lajpat Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Jangpura, Malviya Nagar, and Wazirabad. Some of them are living in Faridabad, Haryana as well. 

The legal status of Afghan refugees in India

Though India hosts a large number of refugees, it is not a signatory to the 1951 refugee convention or its 1967 additional protocol which gives the former a universal coverage. The 1951 refugee convention is the centerpiece of international refugee protection today. The convention lays basic minimum standards for the treatment of refugees. As per the convention, the refugees are given various rights including the right to primary education, access to courts, provision for documentation, including a refugee travel document in passport form.

India’s policy regarding granting refugee status is not uniform. For instance, the Indian government does offer prima facie official recognition for two refugee groups- Sri Lankan Tamils and Tibetans. It entitles these groups to receive a range of benefits including referral to public services and government-approved refugee certificate. Afghan refugees living in India aren’t officially recognized by the Government of India (GoI) as refugees. However, GoI permits United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work for the protection of the interest of Afghan refugees in Delhi. Refugees from Myanmar, Somalia, and Palestine are neither recognized by the government of India nor receive much support from UNHCR.  

The Afghan refugees living in Delhi do not have a clear legal status except the refugee card which is issued by UNHCR after following a due process. While the UNHCR issued ID cards help prevent arbitrary arrest and deportation, the refugees still face problems in securing jobs in the formal sector and access to admissions in schools and colleges for the lack of documents. Opening a bank account and renting a home as well requires obtaining a long-term visa.

UNHCR has also been supporting the refugee groups as it provides monthly subsistence allowance to a few of them and also runs various programs including vocational training and self-employment opportunities. While the Afghans find Delhi a much safer place, they complain about the high cost of living as they struggle to meet their ends. Most of them have long waited for their interviews and visas to get the chance to go to the third country of destination but it has not happened. After waiting for 8 or 9 years or more some haven’t got any response, therefore, they have thought of returning to their country but it has not been easy as they have to pay huge fines to the government of India and their name will be put in the blacklist to not be able to come back.

The impact of COVID-19 on the refugees

While Afghan refugees in India have been able to blend well with the locals adding new flavors and aromas to local food and culture, their chances of securing decent livelihoods in formal sector remain limited as they do not have a clear identity. These refugees have been able to start their restaurants, mobile shops, medical shops, parlors, etc. but with the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent nationwide lockdown, their already limited livelihood opportunities are in danger. 

We conducted telephonic interviews with 10 Afghan refugees living in different parts of Delhi to understand the immediate impact of the lockdown on their livelihood and the role played by government and UNHCR to support them during the crisis in terms of providing income support and access to health facilities. 

Take the case of Ahmad (name changed) who came to India from Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan in December 2016 due to security threats.  He is living with his brother in Lajpat Nagar and has been able to find a temporary job as a translator and has also been helping newly coming refugee families in finding accommodation. He has also been receiving financial support from his relatives abroad. However, after the lockdown, he has lost his job as well as faced difficulty in receiving the financial support as the financial help was mainly sent via informal means.

Another refugee Mahmood (name changed) who came to Delhi 3 years ago with 5 other members of his family told the authors that he has been able to earn around Rs. 7000 per month by selling fruits and vegetables. After the lockdown, the family struggles to meet their ends in the absence of any alternate income support.

Salim (name changed) who has been living in Tilak Nagar, Delhi since 2015 with 8 other family members shares similar pains as amidst the lockdown he had to close down his shop. Selling second-hand household appliances, he was able to earn around 9000 per month. 

However, food and livelihood is not the only problem for refugees. The Refugee families have expressed concern that those who haven’t yet received the refugee card (the refugee card issued by UNHCR) do not have access to public health services while they cannot afford private health care. Due to language barriers, the refugees also face problems in communication at the hospitals. There are 99 Covid-19 hotspots in Delhi. The hotspots include areas in places like Malviya Nagar, East of Kailash, and Khirki village where Afghan refugees have been living. One positive case of the coronavirus has been reported from Lajpat Nagar as well. Amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, UNHCR in a joint initiative with BOSCO has been providing health and safety guidelines to some of the Afghan refugees regarding protection against the coronavirus. However, many families do not have access to such programs run by BOSCO-UNHCR.

The refugee families reported that they are facing problems in the payment of rent, buying food, access to hospitals, and sanitary items and there has been no financial support from UNHCR or Indian government to help them in managing during the crisis.

Reza Ehsan and Sapna Goel are PhD Scholars in Economics Department at South Asian University, New Delhi.

Scrapping of Labor Laws Won’t Solve India’s Unemployment Problem

Sapna Goel & Reza Ehsan 
Published at: The Geopolitics
https://thegeopolitics.com/scrapping-of-labor-laws-wont-solve-indias-unemployment-problem/

With the ongoing lockdown since March 24th, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s economy is seeing a deep slump for the upcoming years. To tackle this, certain Labor Law relaxation amendments were released in certain states. Most states cleared an ordinance exempting businesses from the purview of most labor law provisions for the next three years. 

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has invoked an ordinance exempting all factories engaged in manufacturing processes from most of the labor laws for three years, subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions. Laws governing minimum wage, unionization, contract labor, health and working conditions, dispute settlement, pensions won’t be applicable. Madhya Pradesh government has also relaxed the labor laws so that the provisions of the acts such as those related to industrial dispute resolution, strikes and lockouts, and trade unions, will not apply. The Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Assam and Uttarakhand governments have also passed notifications to increase maximum weekly work hours from 48 hours to 72 hours and daily work hours from 9 hours to 12 hours for certain factories using this provision.

The decision of various state governments to relax some of the labor laws aims at generating employment, attract investments, and increase the overall output growth. However, these legal measures taken by the state governments to relax the labor laws violate labor rights and are based on a misguided understanding of the linkages between labor laws and outcomes including employment generation and output growth based on three reasons.

First, India is a founding member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and has ratified several conventions to protect and promote the interest and well-being of the workers. The Directive Principles of State policy also mentions that states should provide just and human conditions of work by suitable legislations. As per the report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), 2007, there is a vast majority of labor laws related to the conditions of work and social security which apply to the workers in the organized sector whereas very few laws apply to the workers in the unorganized sector. The unorganized sector consists of those enterprises which use power and employ less than 10 people or don’t use power and employ less than 20 people. Nearly 80 percent of the workers are engaged in the unorganized sector. The unorganized economy accounts for an overwhelming proportion of the poor and vulnerable population. The NCEUS (2007) reports that the implementation status of the labor laws in the unorganized sector is very poor. The main reasons for the poor implementation include the small size of the enforcement machinery to the vast and dispersed workforce and inadequate participation of the representatives of the unorganized sector in ensuring the effective implementation of labor laws. Even within the organized sector, there is increasing informalisation since 2000 as firms are replacing regular workers by contract workers.

Given the limited coverage and poor implementation of labor laws in the unorganized sector and increasing informalisation within the organized sector as well, the decision to scrap various labor laws violates labor rights and worsens the already poor outcomes of the labor market in terms of providing quality employment.

Second, the argument of labor laws being too rigid has also been applied to explain the small size of the organized sector in the Indian economy in terms of contribution to employment. The understanding has been that firms prefer to remain small in size to avoid entering the organized sector whereas firms that are already in the organized sector prefer to hire fewer workers as the coverage of labor laws increases with the size of workers. 

However, labor laws cannot explain the small size of the organized sector in the Indian economy. To understand the small size of the organized sector and large and dispersed unorganized sector, we need to look into the industrial policy of India. 

The second five-year plan (1956-61) of India, popularly known as the Nehru-Mahalanobis plan was the key document to guide the process of industrialization in independent India. Following the plan, the focus before the reforms started in the 1980s, was on disproportionate public investment in capital and technology-intensive sectors as compared to investments in the consumption goods sector. However, the employment-generating potential of the capital goods sector has been very limited. To address the problem of unemployment in the economy, consumption goods were produced in small-scale industries with labor-intensive technologies. A large number of products were reserved to be produced under small-scale industries only and the production was subsidized. Thus, there were perverse incentives to remain small. The result was a mushrooming of tiny units which employ 2-9 workers and besides own-account workers. Thus, the small size of the organized sector is an outcome of certain policy decisions and it cannot be understood simply in terms of labor laws.

Third, the scrapping of the labor laws in various states is governed by the understanding that labor laws in India are too rigid and relaxation of labor laws would lead to an increase in employment generation and overall output growth. This has been a standard neo-liberal proposition. However, other studies argue that employment generation has weak linkages with the degree of labor market flexibility, and weak and flexible labor laws will result in undesirable outcomes such as underpayment, over-time work, and unhealthy working conditions. Employment generation hinges upon a key set of variables including aggregate demand, social and physical infrastructure. The understanding that labor laws in India are too rigid has also been applied in speculating about the increasing replacement of labor by capital in factories. While it is true that firms are increasingly replacing labor by capital, the rigidities in labor laws are not the sole factor for adopting capital-intensive technologies. It would depend as well upon factors such as the degree of liberalization of the financial market, import tariffs on capital goods, which influence the cost of capital, nature of capital intensity of domestic demand. Therefore, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that rigidity of labor laws force the adoption of capital-intensive technologies and thus, limits employment generation or that relaxation of labor laws will lead to increased employment opportunities. 

The labor laws in India have been considered as very rigid and an impediment in the generation of quality job opportunities in the economy. However, we cannot put all the blame on labor laws given that the coverage and implementation of labor laws are very limited and poor in India and employment generation and output growth in an economy hinges upon a key set of variable including the nature of industrial policy and social and physical infrastructure. Amidst the current pandemic, as the vast majority of the workforce is forced to return to their homes and widespread unemployment in the economy leads to the collapse of the income, the labor laws could have been strengthened to ensure wages and job-security to a large segment of the workforce. In such a situation, the decision of various State governments to scrap labor laws only points to the apathy of the governments towards the working class.

Sapna Goel & Reza Ehsan are PhD scholars in Economics Department at the South Asian University, New Delhi. 

کووید19 و مشکلات پناهندگان افغانستان در دهلی

رضا احسان

نشر شده در وبسایت اطلاعات روز:

https://www.etilaatroz.com/99611/covid-19-and-problems-of-afghan-immigrants-in-delhi/?fbclid=IwAR1blH2wVRTuXeYkJ1iCXMxbXEyLQQT93L1FalQi3T2dLCu06bX9vh4_-Gw

«سلام، خوب هستید؟ ببخشید، می‌شود چند دقیقه از وقت‌تان را به من بدهید، در مورد مهاجران افغان در دهلی تحقیق می‌کنم، اگر وقت داشته باشید چند سوالی از شما بپرسم؟»

«بله، حتما. بپرسید. گهگاهی بعضی‌ها می‌آیند و در مورد مهاجران افغانستان سوال می‌کنند و گم می‌شوند. نه کاری می‌کنند و نه کمکی. شما هم بپرسید، گپی نیست.»

مخاطبم مردی لاغراندامی‌ است که در یک گوشه‌ی شلوغ و نامنظم یک کوچه‌ی تنگ و پررهرو در منطقه‌ی «تیلک-نگر» از مربوطات دهلی سمبوسه می‌فروشد. موهایش بیش‌تر از نصف سفید شده و چشمانش فرورفته در استخوان‌های نحیف سر. وسایل اندکی، به‌شمول یک کراچی، برای پختن سمبوسه در پیش رویش قرار دارد و پسربچهی ده-یازده ساله همراهی‌اش می‌کند. وقتی سوال‌هایم را در مورد مسائل مربوط به مهاجران و مشکلات آن‌ها مطرح می‌کنم، خانمی با اندام کوچک، چهره‌ی روشن، بینی کشیده و چشمان گرد، ایستاده در کنارم را متوجه می‌شوم که منتظر است در اولین وققه سمبوسه بخرد. وی، وقتی متوجه می‌شود در مورد اوضاع مهاجران افغان می‌پرسم و به دقت به حرف‌های مرد سمبوسه‌فروش که از مشکلاتش صحبت می‌کند گوش می‌دهم، پس از اندکی تأمل از من می‌خواهد با شوهر وی نیز گفت‌وگو کنم. شماره‌ی تلفن شوهرش را به من می‌دهد و قرار می‌شود روز بعد با آن شماره به تماس شوم و با شوهر وی صحبت کنم. وی سمبوسه‌اش را می‌گیرد و راهی می‌شود.

پیرمرد از زندگی پرمشقت و دشوار مهاجرت می‌گوید؛ از ناامنی زادگاهش، غزنی می‌گوید؛ از سرنوشت نا معلوم «کِس»اش در دفتر کمیشنری عالی ملل متحد در امور پناهندگان می‌گوید؛ از دشواری‌های خرج درآوردن و پرداخت کرایه‌ی خانه می‌گوید؛ از آینده‌ی فرزندانش می‌گوید  و از نارضایتی‌اش از آنچه در افغانستان جریان دارد می‌گوید.

طبق وعده و هماهنگی برای صحبت تیلک-نگر رفتم، خانم یادشده با شوهرش، درحالی‌که دو فرزند کوچک آن‌ها را همراهی می‌کردند در یک کنار سرک در داخل کوچه‌ی تنک و باریک آمدند و صحبت آغاز شد. قصه‌های کم‌وبیش مشابهی داشتند. گفتند هشت سال است در بی‌سرنوشتی زندگی می‌کنند. به‌دلیل پایین‌بودن کرایه‌ی خانه این منطقه را انتخاب کرده‌اند، با این حال، حتا نمی‌تواند از پول کار همسرش مصارف و کرایه خانه و برق را به‌صورت کامل پوره کنند. همسرش از عدم دسترسی به کار مناسب و با درآمد شکایت داشت. برایم گفت اگر کاری می‌توانم یا کدام مؤسسه‌ای را میشناسم که کاری می‌تواند، عکس‌های کارت‌های‌شان را را می‌توانم بگیرم و با آن‌ها به تماس شوم.

این گفت‌وگوها و صحبت‌هایم با مهاجران افغان برمی‌گردد به چندین ماه قبل از همگانی‌شدن ویروس کرونا و وضع قرنطین عمومی.

بار دیگر، پس از مدت طولانی و تغییرات قابل ملاحظه در نحوه‌ی زندگی روزمره، روابط اجتماعی، کاروبار، و عادات اجتماعی مردم، طی چند روز پیش با استفاده از مصاحبه تلفنی با شماری از مهاجران افغان در دهلی به تماس شدم. برای‌شان قصدم را از تماس بیان می‌کردم و توضیح می‌دادم که روی تأثیرات کرونا و تأثیرات وضع قرنطین عمومی بر زندگی مهاجران افغان تحقیق می‌کنم و می‌خواهم بدانم پس از قرنطین چه مشکلاتی برای مهاجران افغان در دهلی پیش آمده است. در جریان مصاحبه با جواب‌های متفاوت و ذکر دشواری‌های جدی مواجه شدم. آنچه که در این میان مشترک است، فشار روحی-روانی مضاعف ناشی از قرنطین عمومی، از دست‌دادن کار و وظیفه و باقی‌ماندن شبانه‌روزی در خانه است. تعدادی نیز از از دست‌رفتن منبع درآمد می‌گویند و بیان می‌کنند که اکنون، یک ماه است کرایه‌ی خانه نپرداخته‌اند و قادر نبوده‌اند که از درآمد ماه‌های قبل از قرنطین پس‌انداز کنند و کرایه‌ی خانه را برای ماه دوم  قرنطین بپردازند. وقتی می‌پرسم آیا کمکی از طرف «سازمان ملل» یا دولت هند و یا سفارت افغانستان یا کدام نهاد دیگر دریافت کرده‌اند، پاسخ اکثریت منفی است، به استثنای تعدادی که از طریق ابتکار مشترک دفتر کمیشنری عالی ملل متحد در امور پناهندگان و «باسکو» اوراق رهنمایی و معلومات در مورد کرونا و مقدار مواد خوراکه و مواد ضدعفونی‌کننده دریافت کرده‌اند.

برعلاوه‌ی فشار روحی-روانی ناشی از مهاجرت و بیماری کووید 19، اکثریت مطلق مهاجران افغان که از طریق کارهای شخصی، ترجمانی، سبزی‌فروشی، نانوایی و برگرفروشی، یا کار در سلمانی، دواخانه، هتل، دفاتر خصوصی و فروشگاه‌ها امرار معاش می‌کردند، کارهای‌شان را از دست داده‌اند و مدت بیش‌تر از دو ماه می‌شود که خانه‌نشین هستند. با این وصف، تعدادی نیز هستند که کارهای شان را از طریق خانه به پیش می‌برند و یا از قبل وظیفه‌ی نداشته‌اند.

با این حال، تمام قصه‌ی پناهندگان افغان در هند، به شرح غم‌انگیز عصر قرنطینه خلاصه نمی‌شود، بلکه این داستان همیشه یک رخ دیگری نیز با خود داشته است. طی سال‌ها زندگی در هند، مهاجران افغان در بخش‌های مختلف پویایی و تحرک خاصی به‌وجود آورده است. غذاهای افغانی که در رستوران‌های لاجپت-نگر و بوگل تهیه می‌شود شهرت خاص خویش را دارند. فرهنگ افغان‌ها نیز بر زیبایی این شهر افزوده است. مهاجران افغان در بخش‌های مختلف کار می‌کنند، در فعالیت‌های اقتصادی و فرهنگی و اجتماعی نقش داشته‌اند و رنگ‌هایی بر رنگ‌های زیبای قبلی افزوده‌اند.

وقتی از تعدادی پرسیده می‌شود که گفتنی دیگری دارند، به خواست‌های‌شان و مسائلی که با آن روبه‌رو هستند، اشاره می‌کنند و می‌گویند نیازمند همکاری کمیشنری عالی ملل متحد در امور پناهندگان و حکومت افغانستان و حکومت هند هستند تا در قسمت دسترسی بهتر به خدمات صحی، امرار معیشت و رسیدگی به تمدید اسناد و مشکلات دیگرشان که در زمان قرنطینه با آن روبه‌رو شده‌اند رسیدگی کنند.

***

زندگی در دوره‌ی کرونا؛ باهم این دوره را بنویسیم

در سال 1900 در کابل وبا آمد. مرض واگیر و مهلکی که هر چند سال یکبار می‌آمد و هر بار، طی سه-چهار ماهی که دوام می‌کرد، جان آدم‌های بسیاری را در شهر می‌گرفت. دلیل اصلی شیوع مکرر مرض، آب رودخانه‌ی کابل بود که مردم از آن هم در شست‌وشو استفاده می‌کردند و هم در پخت‌وپز.

ما این حادثه را می‌دانیم به‌دلیل این‌که فرنک مارتین، کارمند انگلیسی دولت، تمام این‌ها را دید و بعد در کتاب خاطرات خود نوشت. ساکنان کابل اما هیچ سند مکتوبی از وحشت وبا در آن سال‌ها از خود بر جای نگذاشته‌اند. چه بسا فجایعی که در تاریخ ما اتفاق افتاده و امروز یا ما آن‌ها را به یاد نداریم و یا وارونه به یاد داریم.

در این روزها که ویروس کرونا دنیا را درنوردیده و به یک بلای عالم‌گیر بدل شده است، برخی مورخان پیشنهاد کرده‌اند که مردم تجربه‌های شخصی‌شان را ثبت کنند تا سندی باشد برای آیندگان.

ما در یک لحظه‌ی مهم تاریخی زندگی می‌کنیم و مشاهدات شخصی ما سند باارزشی برای فهم این لحظه در آینده خواهد بود.

ثبت مشاهدات شخصی به‌خصوص در افغانستان مهم است؛ جایی که هم ملت نانویسا است و هم دولت. به همین دلیل، آیندگان ما درباره‌ی حوادث این روزها به معلوماتی که توسط شاهدان عینی ثبت شده باشد، دسترسی محدود خواهند داشت؛ درست همان‌طور که امروز ما به سختی می‌توانیم معلومات قابل اعتمادی درباره‌ی حوادث بزرگ قرن‌های گذشته‌ی خود پیدا کنیم.

بی‌گمان، روزنامه‌ها به مثابه تاریخ مکتوب یکی از گزینه‌های اصلی و بی‌بدیل برای ثبت این تجربه‌ها است. بنابراین از شما مخاطبان گرامی دعوت می‌کنیم از تجربه‌‌های شخصی خود، از تغییرات و تأثیراتی که این بیماری همه‌گیر در زندگی شخصی و کاری، خانوادگی و اجتماعی‌تان آورده، از بیم‌ها و امیدها و از سختی‌ها و نگرانی‌های که با آن درگیرید و از آنچه در اطراف و محل زندگی‌تان می‌بینید، از طریق ما برای آیندگان روایت کنید.

روزنامه اطلاعات روز یادداشت‌ها، تجربه‌ها، چشم‌دیدها و روایت‌های شما را منتشر می‌کند.

dailyetilaatroz@gmail.com

Need to revive civil activism in Afghanistan

By Bipin Ghimire & Reza Ehsan

Published at: South Asia Monitor

In a country devastated by wars and lacking national cohesion, Afghan civil activists have consistently been in a state of alert to the unwanted and catastrophic events. Fuelled by aid from international donors, civil activism in Afghanistan has had steady growth over the last decade during the involvement of the US and its allies with the country.  

Civil activism in Afghanistan reached its peak in the last two years but failed to earn any positive response from the government -- and accelerated by the direct attacks of insurgent groups on the activists, it seems that civil activism in the conflict-ridden nation is declining. An unprecedented democratic achievement is facing a tragic death. 

On November 11, 2015, a mass of peaceful protestors surrounded the Presidential Palace in Kabul demanding justice in the case of beheadings of seven members of the Hazara community, including a seven-year-old girl, on the Kabul-Qandahar highway.  

There was another round of protests -- organised by the same activists -- on May 16, 2016, against the re-routing of a power line project which was originally set to pass through the Bamyan province (a Hazara-dominated province) of central Afghanistan. However, the government apparently abandoned the previous plan and decided to proceed through Salang pass, a new route. The protestors were accusing the government of systematic discrimination against ethnic Hazaras who predominantly inhabit the central provinces of Afghanistan. 

A couple of months later, on July 22, 2016, two explosions took place among the protestors during their second round of protests, which resulted in 80 casualties and left more than 231 injured. These protests became famous as 'The Enlightenment movement'. After this explosion, the movement did not launch any further protests fearing attacks.  

Hitherto, the social movements in Afghanistan have not been able to earn governments concessions. This situation has raised two questions -- whether the civil movements are failing or does the government intend to get rid of civil activism. 

The Afghan government has shown token acceptance of civil activism and democratic movements, merely to attract aid and assistance from the liberal world, particularly from the US. There are two reasons behind it -- the totalitarian tradition of governance, which still casts its shadow over the conduct of the post-2001 bureaucrats and the over-concentration on security politics. 

The post-2001 government in Afghanistan is old wine in a new bottle which replicates the 1970s bureaucratic settings. The same bureaucrats from 1970s-1980s totalitarian governments were recalled on the onset of Hamid Karzai's administration. Not used to the democratic ways of governance, the Afghan officials lack both accountability and transparency to the public or civil activists.  

This lack of democratic accountability is backed by the high political prioritisation on security issues. Such an over-focus on high politics have led to not only the official corps inherited from 1980s but also the President, a former World Bank official, turning a blind eye to non-security issues. 

Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani, in one of his speeches to military officials, satirically criticised the media saying "winds come out of TV channels, we count on you; bombs come out of you". Many media activists interpreted his words as not being sensitive to the media and popular opinion. 

The decline of civil activism may allow the Afghan state to carry on with its priorities without civil griping in its ears. However, overwhelmed with its undemocratic bureaucratic background and its traditional governmental setup in place, it is prone to authoritarian rule.

The presence of the international community in the country since 2001 assisted civil activists to create an internal self-re-correcting mechanism within the Afghan society which constantly undercuts governmental aspirations for totalitarian behaviours. 

To rescue the Afghan civil activists, firstly, the Afghan government needs to create a safe environment for their activities with specific protective measures to secure them against attacks by terrorists and insurgents. Secondly, the government should respond positively to their demands to keep civil movements alive which in turn, encourages the armed opposition to seek their political demands through civil activism. 

(Bipin Ghimire is a Doctoral fellow (International Relations) at the New Delhi-based South Asian University. Reza Ehsan is pursuing MA in development economics at the same institution. Comments and suggestions on this article can be sent to editor@spsindia.in)