Fieldnotes on Humanity

On January 20, 2015, Radio Azadi, the Afghanistan Service, purposefully published a parnicious video report from Herat, located in western Afghanistan, which was subsequently published on its website, YouTube , and social media platforms. The report centered around Iranian influence in Afghanistan, and the reporter sought to cast doubt on the presence of Hazaras in Herat. In the report, the reporter visits the Jebrael neighborhood, a Hazara-majority area, and claims that Jebrael suddenly appeared in what was once an empty plain. The implication is clear: the Hazaras were not originally from Herat but were recently brought there by Iran. The reporter further questions local residents, asking if their homes were built by Iran. One elderly man responds, firmly stating, "No, we built everything with our own money and with our own hands." The underlying message of the report is that the presence of Hazaras in Herat is part of a covert Iranian government plan to establish a corrid...

In my previous post , I wrote about theft at Radio Azadi. Here’s an example: The RFE/RL Afghanistan bureau in Kabul had just moved from the Mustafa Hotel in the buffer zone, located between downtown and Shahr-e Naw, to Wazir Akbar Khan, a more opulent and safe neighborhood. It was sometime in late 2002. The city's electricity was rarely available, let alone reliable, so the office has received permission from the main office in Prague, the Czech Republic, to purchase a generator to provide electricity to our newly built two studios plus nearly 45 desktop computers. I was a technician and, therefore, was responsible for any technological problems.  I went to Shahr-e-Naw and found a computer shop owned by a Herati merchant that sold German generators. It was nearly two years after the people of the Taliban regime, and finding a powerful generator was like a dream come true. The only generator that the store had was 5000W, which was considered pretty good given the scarcity. Plus, if ...

When Kari Lake was nominated as a special advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media, some media outlets reported that Trump had asked Lake to gut the government agency that oversees Voice of America (VOA). Instead of gutting, Kari Lake dismantled the agency, which oversees six organizations, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America. I don’t know much about the other organizations that were closed, but I know a lot about Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Afghan Service, known as Radio Azadi . (to call it Azadi, which means freedom, is a misnomer; I will write on this more in an upcoming blog post). I worked in its Kabul bureau as a technical manager in 2003. I was responsible for all communication tools, technology, radio broadcasting, and relay systems. I know how corrupt this organization was. I mean corrupt in every sense, ethically and financially. During the time I worked, male journalists would openly demand sex from their female colleagues in bro...

This morning, I was walking along a winding path through the university campus until I reached the bottom of the hill. From there, I followed the serpentine path upwards. Along the way, I saw a beautiful butterfly adorned with red and black spots. I knelt down quietly to take a short clip and share it with my nephew, Amir who is in fifth grade. The emergence of such a beautiful butterfly was mesmerizing. I didn't move for a minute, just to appreciate its beauty and presence in such an early spring. I haven't seen a butterfly yet. Just as I was gingerly prostrating over the grass while filming, it flew off timidly. Without hesitation, I shared the short clip with Amir. "Hey Amir, check out this surprise of mother nature," I texted, accompanied by a smily emoji. He immediately called, and we briefly video-chatted, after which I continued. As I was meandering through the hills, a not-so-distant memory suddenly rushed to my mind—the moment when I had walked this same pat...

Photo source: x/twitter One of the questions that has preoccupied the minds of contemporary Hazaras is: Who are we, and where do we come from? This question has no historical basis, but nevertheless, a question is a question. So, why is this question raised in the first place? Who is asking it? What has fueled this question more than anyone else is not the Hazaras themselves but the non-Hazaras, the Pashtuns and Tajiks in Afghanistan. The origin of this question lies among those who do not consider the Hazaras native to Afghanistan. It stems from those who claim that the Hazaras are outsiders and that they arrived in Afghanistan with such-and-such army in such-and-such century, but they never bother to question or think about their originality, how they did come to Afghanistan. This question also originates in the inhumane attitudes and behaviors of members of the dominant ethnic groups towards the Hazaras, which persist to this day. The roots of this discriminatory outlook lie with th...

I found this following refugee poem by chance. It is by an Afghanistani poet, Raziq Faani, and I thought I would regret it later if I did not translate it. ----- One morning, from the children’s playground, My little one returned with tearful eyes, And with the lump in his throat, he asked: "Tell me, dad! What is a refugee? Is it an insult or just a name?" At his question, a sorrow filled my heart, And a tear slipped uncontrollably down my cheek Quietly, I wiped it away with the back of my hand, As my mind searched for the right words. I told him: "Look, my dear child, Do you know what homeland means?" He nodded, "Yes, You once told me, That homeland is where our ancestors lived." I kissed his face, And with a heavy heart, I added: "If in one dark night, A band of thieves and marauders burn your dad's home, And set fire to everything, and you, in fear, run away, Spending nights on the streets of strangers, You will become a refugee, my child, You ...