Global Voices: The prominence of stereotyping and name-calling on Afghan social media allows an insight into fragile interethnic relations in a country that has experienced more war than peace in recent decades. Click here to read more (external link).
Global Voices: Last week thousands of ethnic Hazaras held demonstrations in various parts of the world to protest against a proposal to change the planned route for a new electricity transmission line Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP). Hazaras, who may number anywhere between 10 and 20% of Afghanistan’s total population (no official census has ever been conducted) endured more persecution
Khaama Press: President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani issued a new decree following the conclusion of a review commission to study the route for the 500kV transmission line. The presidential decree states that a 220kW double circuit power line will be transmitted from from Doshi to the central provinces to transmit 300 megawatt of electricity that would be
Prospect: The 500 kv pipeline is being routed away from the Hazara-majority Bamiyan Province in central Afghanistan over the Salang Pass (a mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan with Parwan Province, which lies next door to Kabul on its North Eastern border with connections to Kabul Province and southern Afghanistan). Over the past few weeks, demonstrations have
Al Jazeera: The Hazaras are an ethnic minority in Afghanistan who have long complained of discrimination. The protests are also shining a light on the Hazaras long-running grievances. So, are the Hazaras really discriminated against in Afghanistan? Or are they being manipulated by outside influences? Click here to read more (external link).
VOA News May 16, 2016 KABUL—Tens of thousands of ethnic minority Hazaras, protesting the rerouting of a power line, were blocked in their attempt to march to the presidential palace in Kabul Monday. Authorities, fearing violence, set up shipping containers overnight, effectively closing off Kabul’s commercial center to foot and motor traffic. Leaders of Monday’s
Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani, in a decree, on Sunday suspended work on the 500 Kilovolt electricity project from Turkmenistan and assigned a 12-member commission to assess the situation. According to the decree obtained by TOLOnews, the commission has been tasked with the job of assessing the project within 10 days. The third article of the six-article decree states
Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani’s speech was interrupted at a gathering in Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in the United Kingdom after two Afghans blasted him for what they called injustice against the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) electricity project. One of the two protesting attendants Ahmad Bahduri called Ghani a “liar” and claimed that he has failed to fulfill
The Diplomat: Tensions are rising over the use of Afghanistan’s two official languages. Pohantun (Pashto) or daneshgah (Persian), which of the two should be used as the word for “university” in Afghanistan? The Afghan constitution recognizes both Persian (Dari) and Pashto as the country’s official languages; in practice, however, there is less agreement on which of these
The Diplomat: Mohammad Mohaqiq, CEO Abdullah Abdullah’s deputy, said the government rejecting public demands to use the Bamyan route “is a clear discrimination and bullying against the people of central provinces.” Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), as TOLOnews reports, blames the previous government for the confusion about routes. DABS says it inherited the decision to go through