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21 May 2011 Supporting Afghan Refugees in Pakistan Due to failing security situation in Afghanistan and the persecution of our active members by warlords and Islamist extremists, we have temporarily withdrawn some of our projects and have decided to assist Afghan refugee women and children with their basic education in Pakistan. After the downfall of Taliban regime in 2001, almost all the aid organizations moved their projects inside Afghanistan, bBut 50% of Afghan refugees still live in Pakistan. Neither NGOs nor government assists refugees in their education. So all refugee schools operate on self financial basis by taking fees from students. There are many Afghan refugee children who are not able to afford their education, so Nazari Foundation has dedicated a part of its fund for refugee children and women in Pakistan. 17 August 2010: Couple stoned to death for adultery 21 June 2010: A Taliban push into Hazara-settled areas in central Afghanistan is a very dangerous development for Nazari Foundation and for Hazara people. The main road into Jaghori, an important Hazara district, has been blocked by Taliban forces. It is feared this will be a repeat of the 1990s blockade of another important Hazara area, Bamian, which coincided with drought resulting in mass starvation. For Nazari Foundation workers in villages, this puts their education and social programs in jeopardy and raises concerns for their own personal safety. Nazari Foundation is also worried about the families of the women and children they have been assisting. Juma makes every effort to keep in contact with his team, but some have gone into hiding. Waraqa Primary School is one of our major projects and is located on the road now blocked by Taliban. Further reading on this matter: |
And from The Australian this article by Professor William Maley gives an Australian perspective. For the first time in the Australian media it raises the perilous position of Hazaras, both now and in the future, if the western coalition-backed rapprochment occurrs between Karzai and the Taliban. In the event this politically neat relationship warms, so far no western leader has raised the likely fate of the Hazaras. |
Jaghori and Malistan: Jaghori, a district of over 200,000 people, and Malistan, a district of over 100,000 people, are surrounded by Taliban-controlled districts of Qarabagh, Muqur, Gelan, Khak-e-Afghan, Khas Uruzgan and Ajristan.
There are two main roads which link Jaghori and Malistan to Kabul-Kandahar highway. One passes across Qarabagh and another passes across Gelan. Both Gelan and Qarabagh districts are under strong control of Taliban. More than 80 people have been kidnapped or killed by Taliban and many cars have been stolen from these two roads during the last four years. The top government and international officials visit Jaghori and Malistan via aeroplane or military convoy. These are the only safe means to go there. The government and the international security forces should not only depend on military operations against Taliban. They should also focus on educating people. If 50% of people were literate in villages it would have been very hard for Islamic fundamentalist groups such as Taliban to find safe bases, and convince people by speaking only two sentences. When 90-99% people are illiterate in villages, then what we can expect from them? We do not only face the Taliban’s threats towards our social work. The presence of local war lords from the lower to higher posts in the government is another threat. When government sends trained officials to the villages the war lords compel them to follow their commands of reign. They still speak with their guns and the government is very weak in villages. It is better to say “war lord’s government in villages”. 10-12% of women and 30-35% of men are literate in Jaghori. 50% of children go school. 40% of people still don’t have access to schools and health centres in Jaghori district. 3-5% of women and 10-15% of men are literate in Malistan. 20% of children go school and 70% of people don’t have access to schools and health centers. Qarabagh District: Qarabagh is one of the most unsafe districts in Ghazni. Taliban has strengthened its grip over it since 2007. In 2007, Taliban kidnapped 23 South Koreans from Kabul-Kandahar high way in Qarabagh. They were the workers of an aid group helping Afghans in their education and health. Finally two of them were killed and 21 were released. In May 2008, Taliban killed the district main commander, Qayum Khan who was one of the powerful commanders in Ghazni. The government and NATO relied on his military power in unsafe districts in Ghazni. Now the government district head and the staff are not present in Qarabagh. Taliban rules over almost 80% areas of district. In 2007 and 2008, Taliban had deployed heavy weapons and military men to Qarabagh via Kuchi (nomads) convoy. The nomads use camels and donkeys for transportation. It is the best means of transport for Taliban in the areas where Taliban are afraid of security forces. So under the pretence of nomads’ convoy they deploy their militants and weapons village to village. In 2008, Taliban managed their attacks on Nawur and Behsood districts from Qarabagh using the nomads’ convoy. They captured some parts of both districts but local residents resisted. Taliban claimed they were fighting for the rights of a specific ethnic group. So Taliban destroyed and burned about 100 houses and killed tens of people there. The conflict spread to other areas and was about to change into ethnic conflict. After two weeks conflict government intervened and settled the dispute. It shows a clear ethnic split in the government herself. The ministries of Interior Affairs and Defense Affairs kept watching the conflict. They should have intervened in first days of conflict. This ethnic split is very poisonous for Afghan people and government. It gives more strength to Taliban. We are sure if International Security Assistance Force quit Afghanistan, the ethnic conflict starts on a large scale within a week in Afghanistan. In 2008, Taliban commander in Qarabagh, Mula Manan ordered all girls' schools to be closed, otherwise Taliban will target them. In the same year Taliban had rushed at a school in Tamki valley but local people pushed them back. During our survey to Qarabagh, we selected a primary school in Waraqa because it is the safer village in Qarabagh. We got the list of 151 students who needed urgent assistance. Because of the small size of our fund we could not help them in time. So we managed it while the students were having the final test of the year. It was the last month of autumn. The weather was cold with some snow on the ground. See Waraqa Primary School page We have got a list of 64 children from different villages in Jaghori and Qarabagh who have left the school last two years because of poverty and are not able to buy stationery and reading material. We will assist all these children to go to school this year. There are thousands more children and students who urgently need our help. We will extend our programs to Malistan district this year as well. We are not afraid of any threats and will keep continue our humanitarian aid and programs. For more information about our projects please see project page.
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Security in Khak-e-Afghan (previously known as Khak-e-Iran, a district of Zabul Province) and Khas Uruzgan (a district of Uruzgan province), and it's impact on our projects
Further reading: |
In August 2009 I traveled to Khak-e-Afghan and Khas Uruzgan districts for a survey. Khak-e-Afghan is completely controlled by Taliban which pushed out the government and international security forces in 2007. Now this district has become Taliban's strong militant base where they manage their attacks over other areas of Uruzgan and Zabul provinces. I saw a large number of Arab, Pakistani, Uzbak, Afghan and Chechin Taliban there. The schools are closed and Taliban do not allow any educational programs there except Islamic education. After one day's stay there I went to Khas Uruzgan and stayed for three days visiting some villages. Ninety per cent of this district is controlled by Taliban. The Afghan and international security forces have their own bases in the centre of the district but they do not have any permanent control over the villages outside the district centre. Taliban have strong control over these two districts and collect huge taxes from the people by force. People also refer to Taliban's court whenever they get any problems and disputes. The literacy rate is very low in both districts. 0.5% of women are hardly literate. The schools have been completely closed down since 2007.
In our survey we selected Sero, a valley of Khas Uruzgan district for our projects. Sero valley is also attached with Khak-e-Afghan district. About 600 families live in Sero, most of them living under terrible poverty line. One day I met a group of children between the age of 4 and 12. It was lunch time, so I decided to share my meal with them. I had some apples which I offered, putting them in the middle, but no-one touched them. They were only looking at them. An old woman who was our host told me the children had not eaten or even seen an apple. They did not even understand about fruit. I made four slices of each apple and distributed to them. I wished I had enough for them. None could read or write in their native language. Only a few could read / recite the Muslim holy book Quran which is written in Arabic letters. They had learned it in the Mosque. These were the children of a sub-village of Sero valley. Among 600 families I could find only three literate women but none were able to teach the others. This shows the isolation and backwardness of villages especially in central parts of Afghanistan. It was very surprising and sorrowful for me that in this modern world and modern civilization thousands of people are forced to have a wild life. After the downfall of Taliban regime, the government had opened a primary school in Sero valley in 2003 but the school was closed by Taliban when they recaptured the district in 2007. At the beginning of 2008, the government had started the construction of school building but two month later Taliban had stopped it and taken all the construction materials. I met a local school teacher and decided to move the school to a safe village. So in October 2009 Nazari Foundation purchased stationery, books and other material from Ghazni and supplied it to Sero valley. We moved the school to Baki, a village of Sero valley. This village is attached with Shirdagh, a valley of Malistan district. We thought this village would be safe from Taliban insurgents attack and at least 40% people of Sero Valley would have access to our educational programs. We were going to set up a women's adult literacy centre as well, but just as we started establishing our projects the Taliban insurgents rushed on our projects unexpectedly and took all the material. I and one of my colleagues got minor injuries in this incident, and we left the village at midnight. Now I realize Taliban have strong informer network in Afghanistan so we have temporarily cancelled our programs from Uruzgan. Taliban have a very negative attitude towards social workers and government officials. If they catch anyone, mostly they kill. I have lost some of the photos and there is only the photos of the school building where Taliban had stopped the construction of the building. It is in Sero Valley, Khas Uruagan district. In my first visit to Uruzgan I had no camera with me because of the security situation. In my second visit I left the camera in a house in the incident. Somebody had deleted some of the photos. I got my camera back after a few weeks. |
I visited Kabul and Medan Wardak province last week. The security situation is getting worse in Medan Wardak and Ghazni. I saw burning cars and vehicle in two places on the highway between Ghazni and Kabul. Taliban cuts the fingers of ordinary people by stopping cars on the roads. Only Afghan security forces and international forces fight Taliban. Others cannot fight without arms. Taliban is dangerous. It is difficult to make them understand. Taliban fights then escape. 8 Sept 2009 |
| Taliban has threatened girls schools in Ghazni Province by sending letters to many districts in last week of June. They have warned people and government to close the girls school voluntarily, otherwise it will target them. The schools in many districts of Ghazni can be targeted by Taliban. Some parts of Jaghori District can also be targeted. Taliban has been very hostile to women's education and rights. It claims to establish the real Sharia Law in Afghanistan by removing the women from the political and social scene, keeping them in boundry walls and pushing them backwards, as it was at the beginning age of Islam (1400 years ago) in Arab world. The government and security forces should pay much attention to the security matters of girls school in Ghazni. Jaghori, 5 July 2009 |
Afghan women's situation getting worse — President Hamid Karzai has signed off on a new Sharia Family Law which approves such things as child marriage, restricts a woman's right to leave the home, and legalizes rape by stipulating that a man is entitled to have sex with his wife with or without her consent. Nazari Foundation condemns this shameful law which oppresses women. Nazari Foundation assists women and children, and defends their rights. Further reading on this subject: |
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Some local war lords have connections with Taliban. They pass information to Taliban whenever they see any government officials and social workers going outside Jaghori and Malistan. Then Taliban stop the cars and catch them. Therefore it is a little difficult to travel outside the districts. So we manage our travel very carefully. Sometimes Taliban target people inside the district and at the borders. Both districts are under Taliban’s threats. 
Left: In 2008 the government provided funds for construction of a school building in Sero Valley, Khas Uruzgan District, but Taliban stopped construction and took all the construction means and banned all the education programs there.