People who run away from reality and who make you feel ashamed.
By Nurullah Walizade, analyst, especially for Sangar
On Thursday evening, the World Panjshiri Council presented its bimonthly report on the human rights situation in Panjshir in an online meeting, where some Tajik and Hazara “political leaders” also spoke.
I use the term “political leaders” here in a general sense, meaning all those who have actively played roles in politics. In this sense, for example, a member of parliament is considered a political leader. I mentioned this to avoid misunderstanding. Because when many people talk about political leaders, 5 to 10 Tajik political figures come to mind. I wanted to say that the political leader we mean is more than just a few famous people here. Of course, the general concept of political leaders also includes famous people.
The Tajik politicians who spoke at the meeting mentioned above were Mohammad Alam Izadyar, former deputy speaker of the Senate of Afghanistan, Zahir Salangi, one of the representatives of Parwan province in the House of Representatives, and Mohammad Arif Rahmani, a member of parliament and a Hazara politician. Several other people spoke at the meeting, but their speeches were mostly technical and did not touch upon political issues. However, the three above-mentioned figures looked at the problem of human rights violations in Panjshir from a political perspective and delivered a speech.
At such meetings, I always draw attention to the ethnic aspects of the issue. Because I believe that the main problem and the bitter objective reality of the political crisis and impasse in Afghanistan are ethnic in nature. I wonder to what extent politicians refer to this reality in their speeches.
Unfortunately, Tajik politicians always avoid discussing the ethnic issue at official meetings. At the above-mentioned meeting, I assumed that since most of the reasons for the widespread human rights violations in Panjshir are related to the ethnic factor, the speakers at that meeting would have explicitly or implicitly touched upon this issue and would have said that at least one of the reasons for the repeated pressure of the Taliban on the people of Panjshir and the deliberate violation of human rights in this region is that the population of this province is Tajik. But unfortunately, the distinguished speakers did not touch upon this issue.
At that meeting, I asked the moderator to give me time to express my criticism about the avoidance of ethnic issues, but there were problems with the internet. It disconnected and reconnected several times, and as a result, I missed the opportunity to express my opinion. That is why I decided to write here.
As always, after that meeting, I thought deeply about why Tajik politicians ignore the real history and do not dare to raise the main issue. I firmly believe that Tajik politicians know that the main issue is ethnic, but they refuse to raise it. It is not that Tajik politicians do not know that the essence of the problem is ethnic. That is, the problem is in the formulation of the problem.
Leaving aside personal gain as the main reason, in my opinion, there are three reasons why Tajik politicians refuse to raise the ethnic issue: Firstly, most of them believe that raising this issue will harm, first of all, their political career; second, they still believe that raising the ethnic issue undermines national unity. Third, they believe that raising the national issue is a sin from a religious point of view.
But whatever the reasons for abstinence, the abstinence itself, in my opinion, deprives these gentlemen of the authority to lead the political life of Tajik society. A politician who, for whatever reason, lacks the courage to bring to the forefront the most important problem of his people should not morally claim leadership in his community.
Here we can say that we are faced with a misunderstanding of the concepts of ethics and morality by these gentlemen. They have not yet properly understood moral, legal, and political norms, and therefore they can be called accidental politicians. Those who stood at the helm of political representation of the people were not based on understanding, comprehension, and deep devotion to their people, but for other reasons, including corrupt and uncertain social relations. This is a great plague for Tajik society, and especially for the political community of these people.
But unlike them, Hazara politician Mohammad Arif Rahmani has raised the ethnic issue boldly and openly, repeatedly speaking in his speeches about the Hazaras and Tajiks and their violated rights as a result of the deeply ingrained discriminatory policies of the ruling ethnic group. His words embody courage, devotion to the interests of his people, honesty, deep foresight, and strategy. His words are closely connected with the objective conditions of society, touch the heart, awaken, and motivate to fight. In contrast, in the speeches of Tajik politicians, you will not find anything new, you will not find courage and determination, you will not find passion and motivation.
In comparison, at this meeting of Tajik and Hazara politicians, one can say that the sweat of shame is pouring down the forehead. A people and a nation whose figures claim a glorious history and civilization, some of whose sons take up the rifle to fight against ethnic tyranny, and thousands of their other sons are tortured in the prisons of the ruling regime for their Tajik origin, and the report presented in this parliament also states that 8 Tajiks from Panjshir were brutally killed. But when their politicians speak, you are overcome with a feeling of utter despair and hopelessness. You will not find anything new or informative in their conversations, and they will mentally throw you back to the times of the republic, full of mistakes and crimes of Tajik politicians...
