'A different angle shows a true picture too.' mamat98 < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message The Invisible Afghanistan      Posted: 20 Zul-Hijjah 1421, 16 March 2001      [Sayyid Rahmatullah Hashemi is the roving Ambassador from Afghanistan      who recently visited the US. The following is the edited version of      the tran_script_ion of a lecture given by him at the University Of      Southern California in Los Angeles, on March 10, 2001]      * - * - *       I was just coming from a meeting with a group of scholars, and the      first thing we started talking about there was the statues. And the      first thing we started talking about here was also the statues. It is      very unfortunate how little we see and how little we know. Nobody has      seen the problems of Afghanistan; nobody saw their problems before.      And the only thing that represents Afghanistan today are the statues.      Afghanistan is called the Crossroads of Asia. So, we are suffering      because of our geo-strategic location. We have suffered in the 18th      century, 19th century, and we are still suffering in this century. We      have not attacked the British. We have not attacked the Russians. It      was them who attacked us. So the problems in Afghanistan you see are      not our creation.      The Soviet Invasion      The recent problems in Afghanistan started in 1979. Afghanistan was a      peaceful country. The Russians, along with their 140,000 troops      attacked Afghanistan in the December of 1979, just 21 years ago,      stayed there for a decade, killed one and a half million people,      maimed one million more people, and six million out of the eighteen      million people migrated because of the Russian brutalities. Even      today, our children are dying because of the landmines that they      planted for us. And nobody knows about this.      After the Russians left during the Russian occupation, on the other      side, the American government, the British government, the French, the      Chinese, and all of the rest, supported the counter-revolutionaries      called the Mujahideen; There were seven parties only in Pakistan and      eight parties in Iran who fought the Russian occupation. And after the      Russians left, these parties went into Afghanistan. All of them had      different ideologies, and a lot of weapons. And instead of having a      single administration, they fought in Afghanistan. The destruction      that they brought was worse than the destruction the Russians brought.      63,000 people were only killed in the capitol, Kabul. Another million      people migrated because of this lawlessness.      The Beginning of Taliban      Seeing this destruction and lawlessness, a group of students called      the Taliban, i.e. a group of students (Taliban is the plural of      student in our language; it may be two students in Arabic, but in our      language it means students) started a movement called the Movement of      Students. It first started in a village in the southern province of      Afghanistan, called Kandahar. It happened when a war-lord, or a      commander abducted two minor girls and violated them. The parents of      those girls went to a school and asked the teacher of the school to      help them. The teacher of that school, along with his 53 students,      finding only 16 guns, went and attacked the _base_ of that commander.      After releasing those two girls, they hanged that commander, and so      many of his people were also hanged. This story was told everywhere.      BBC also quoted this story. Hearing this story, many other students      joined this movement and started disarming the rest of the warlords.      This same students movement now controls 95% of the country including      its capital. Only a bunch of those warlords are remaining in the      northern corridor of Afghanistan.      Our Achievements      We have been in government for only five years, and the following      things that we have done, and many of you may not know:      1.) The first thing we have done is reunifying the fragmented country.      Afghanistan was formerly fragmented into five parts. We unified it      when nobody else could do it.      2.) Second thing we have done, which everybody failed to do, was      disarming the population. After the war every Afghan got a      Kalashnikov, and even sophisticated weapons such as stinger missiles,      and they even got fighter planes and fighter helicopters. Disarming      these people seemed to be impossible. The United Nations in 1992 made      an appeal asking for 3 billion dollars to re-purchase those arms. And      because of its impracticality, that plan never materialized, and      everybody forgot about Afghanistan. So the second thing we have done      is to disarm 95% of that country.      3.) The third thing that we have done is to establish a single      administration in Afghanistan, which did not exist for 10 years.      4.) The fourth achievement that we have that is surprising to      everybody is that we have eradicated 75% of world's opium cultivation.      Afghanistan produced 75% of worlds opium. And last year we issued an      edict asking the people to stop growing opium, and this year, the      United Nations Drug Control Program, UNDCP, and their head, Mr.      Barnard F. proudly announced that there was 0% of opium cultivation.      Zero, zilch, none at all.      Incidentally this was not good news for UN itself because many of them      lost their jobs. In the UNDCP, 700 so called experts were working      there and they got their salaries and they never went into      Afghanistan. So when we issued this edict, I know that they were not      happy. And this year they lost their jobs.      5.) The fifth achievement that we have, is the restoration of Human      rights. Now, you may think that we are involved in violation of Human      Rights. The reality is exactly the opposite. Among the fundamental      rights of a human being is the right to live. Before us, nobody could      live peacefully in Afghanistan.      The first thing we have done, is to give to the people a secure and      peaceful life. The second major thing that we have restored is to give      them free and fair justice; you don't have to buy justice, unlike      here. In Afghanistan justice is free and readily available.      Women's Rights      We have been criticized for violating women's rights. Do you know what      happened before us? I can see some Afghans living here, and they will      agree with me, that in the rural areas of Afghanistan, women were used      as animals. They were sold actually. We stopped this abominable      practice.      They didn't use to have any say in the selection of their husbands.      First thing we have done is to let them choose their future.      Another thing that used to happen in Afghanistan was women were      exchanged as gifts. Of course, this was not something religious; this      was something cultural. When two fighting tribes wanted      reconciliation, they would exchange women. And this has been stopped.      Unlike what is generally said, women do work in Afghanistan. True that      until 1996 when we captured the capital Kabul, we did ask women to      stay home. It didn't mean that we wanted them to stay at home forever.      We said that there is no law, and there is no order, and you have to      stay at home.      We disarmed the people, and we established law and order, and now      women are working. True, that women are not working in the ministry of      defense, like here. We don't want our women to be fighter pilots, or      to be used as _object_s of decoration for advertisements. But they do      work. They work in the Ministry of Health, Interior, Ministry of      Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, and so on.      Similarly we don't have any problem with women's education. We have      said that we want education, and we will have education whether or not      we are under anybody's pressure, because that is part of our belief.      We are ordered to do that. When we say that there should be segregated      schools, it does not mean that we don't want our women to be educated.      It is true that we are against co-education; but it is not true that      we are against women's education.      We do have schools even now, but the problem is the resources. We      cannot expand these programs. Before, our government numerous      curriculums were going on. There were curriculums that preached for      the kings, curriculums that preached for the communists, and      curriculums from all the seven parties. So, the students were confused      as to what to study. We have started to unify the curriculum and that      is going on.      Recently we reopened the faculty of medical science in all major      cities of Afghanistan and in Kandahar. There are more girls students      studying in the faculty of medical sciences than boys are. But they      are segregated. And the Swedish committees have also established      schools for girls. I know they are not enough, but that is what we      have been able to do.      Osama bin Laden      We are also accused of sponsoring terrorism. And for Americans      terrorism or terrorist means only bin Laden. Now you will not know      that Afghanistan, or bin Laden was in Afghanistan for 17 years before      we even existed. Bin Laden was in Afghanistan, fought the Soviet      Union, and Mr. Ronald Reagan, the president of America at that time,      and Mr. Dick Cheney called such people freedom fighters or the Heroes      of Independence, because they were fighting for their cause. And now      when the Soviet Union is fragmented, such people were not needed      anymore, and they were transformed into terrorists. From heroes to      terrorists. This is exactly
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After reading your re-posted article, I recalled that I had gone thru that kind of suffering here in Singapore in early 1950s. Our family's daily meals had to wait for my father to come home with a dollar which he had earned by picking left-over simply he could not find a job after he lost his paper business after-WWII. We could only have plain rice to go with the left-over cabage I picked from the market. It took our Govt many years

'A different angle shows a true picture too.' Hey, how about posting the stories of the Chinese Indonesians and the Maluku Christians?

     Posted: 20 Zul-Hijjah 1421, 16 March 2001      [Sayyid Rahmatullah Hashemi is the roving Ambassador from Afghanistan      who recently visited the US. The following is the edited version of      the tran_script_ion of a lecture given by him at the University Of      Southern California in Los Angeles, on March 10, 2001]      * - * - *       I was just coming from a meeting with a group of scholars, and the      first thing we started talking about there was the statues. And the      first thing we started talking about here was also the statues. It is      very unfortunate how little we see and how little we know. Nobody has      seen the problems of Afghanistan; nobody saw their problems before.      And the only thing that represents Afghanistan today are the statues.      Afghanistan is called the Crossroads of Asia. So, we are suffering      because of our geo-strategic location. We have suffered in the 18th      century, 19th century, and we are still suffering in this century. We      have not attacked the British. We have not attacked the Russians. It      was them who attacked us. So the problems in Afghanistan you see are      not our creation.      The Soviet Invasion      The recent problems in Afghanistan started in 1979. Afghanistan was a      peaceful country. The Russians, along with their 140,000 troops      attacked Afghanistan in the December of 1979, just 21 years ago,      stayed there for a decade, killed one and a half million people,      maimed one million more people, and six million out of the eighteen      million people migrated because of the Russian brutalities. Even      today, our children are dying because of the landmines that they      planted for us. And nobody knows about this.      After the Russians left during the Russian occupation, on the other      side, the American government, the British government, the French, the      Chinese, and all of the rest, supported the counter-revolutionaries      called the Mujahideen; There were seven parties only in Pakistan and      eight parties in Iran who fought the Russian occupation. And after the      Russians left, these parties went into Afghanistan. All of them had      different ideologies, and a lot of weapons. And instead of having a      single administration, they fought in Afghanistan. The destruction      that they brought was worse than the destruction the Russians brought.      63,000 people were only killed in the capitol, Kabul. Another million      people migrated because of this lawlessness.      The Beginning of Taliban      Seeing this destruction and lawlessness, a group of students called      the Taliban, i.e. a group of students (Taliban is the plural of      student in our language; it may be two students in Arabic, but in our      language it means students) started a movement called the Movement of      Students. It first started in a village in the southern province of      Afghanistan, called Kandahar. It happened when a war-lord, or a      commander abducted two minor girls and violated them. The parents of      those girls went to a school and asked the teacher of the school to      help them. The teacher of that school, along with his 53 students,      finding only 16 guns, went and attacked the _base_ of that commander.      After releasing those two girls, they hanged that commander, and so      many of his people were also hanged. This story was told everywhere.      BBC also quoted this story. Hearing this story, many other students      joined this movement and started disarming the rest of the warlords.      This same students movement now controls 95% of the country including      its capital. Only a bunch of those warlords are remaining in the      northern corridor of Afghanistan.      Our Achievements      We have been in government for only five years, and the following      things that we have done, and many of you may not know:      1.) The first thing we have done is reunifying the fragmented country.      Afghanistan was formerly fragmented into five parts. We unified it      when nobody else could do it.      2.) Second thing we have done, which everybody failed to do, was      disarming the population. After the war every Afghan got a      Kalashnikov, and even sophisticated weapons such as stinger missiles,      and they even got fighter planes and fighter helicopters. Disarming      these people seemed to be impossible. The United Nations in 1992 made      an appeal asking for 3 billion dollars to re-purchase those arms. And      because of its impracticality, that plan never materialized, and      everybody forgot about Afghanistan. So the second thing we have done      is to disarm 95% of that country.      3.) The third thing that we have done is to establish a single      administration in Afghanistan, which did not exist for 10 years.      4.) The fourth achievement that we have that is surprising to      everybody is that we have eradicated 75% of world's opium cultivation.      Afghanistan produced 75% of worlds opium. And last year we issued an      edict asking the people to stop growing opium, and this year, the      United Nations Drug Control Program, UNDCP, and their head, Mr.      Barnard F. proudly announced that there was 0% of opium cultivation.      Zero, zilch, none at all.      Incidentally this was not good news for UN itself because many of them      lost their jobs. In the UNDCP, 700 so called experts were working      there and they got their salaries and they never went into      Afghanistan. So when we issued this edict, I know that they were not      happy. And this year they lost their jobs.      5.) The fifth achievement that we have, is the restoration of Human      rights. Now, you may think that we are involved in violation of Human      Rights. The reality is exactly the opposite. Among the fundamental      rights of a human being is the right to live. Before us, nobody could      live peacefully in Afghanistan.      The first thing we have done, is to give to the people a secure and      peaceful life. The second major thing that we have restored is to give      them free and fair justice; you don't have to buy justice, unlike      here. In Afghanistan justice is free and readily available.      Women's Rights      We have been criticized for violating women's rights. Do you know what      happened before us? I can see some Afghans living here, and they will      agree with me, that in the rural areas of Afghanistan, women were used      as animals. They were sold actually. We stopped this abominable      practice.      They didn't use to have any say in the selection of their husbands.      First thing we have done is to let them choose their future.      Another thing that used to happen in Afghanistan was women were      exchanged as gifts. Of course, this was not something religious; this      was something cultural. When two fighting tribes wanted      reconciliation, they would exchange women. And this has been stopped.      Unlike what is generally said, women do work in Afghanistan. True that      until 1996 when we captured the capital Kabul, we did ask women to      stay home. It didn't mean that we wanted them to stay at home forever.      We said that there is no law, and there is no order, and you have to      stay at home.      We disarmed the people, and we established law and order, and now      women are working. True, that women are not working in the ministry of      defense, like here. We don't want our women to be fighter pilots, or      to be used as _object_s of decoration for advertisements. But they do      work. They work in the Ministry of Health, Interior, Ministry of      Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, and so on.      Similarly we don't have any problem with women's education. We have      said that we want education, and we will have education whether or not      we are under anybody's pressure, because that is part of our belief.      We are ordered to do that. When we say that there should be segregated      schools, it does not mean that we don't want our women to be educated.      It is true that we are against co-education; but it is not true that      we are against women's education.      We do have schools even now, but the problem is the resources. We      cannot expand these programs. Before, our government numerous      curriculums were going on. There were curriculums that preached for
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Enlightenment, or even its concept, is far far too deep for the eeny-mini-tiny minds of 99.99999... per cent of human beings in this time of immense decay and period of hatred and greed and delusion. Humans nowadays follow blindly, though they think otherwise.   Saininia < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message   After reading your re-posted article, I recalled that I had gone thru that kind of suffering here in Singapore in early 1950s. Our family's daily meals had to wait for my father to come home with a dollar which he had earned by picking left-over simply he could not find a job after he lost his paper business after-WWII. We could only have plain rice to go with the left-over cabage I picked from the market.   It took our Govt many years