Showing posts with label Ashraf-Ghani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ashraf-Ghani. Show all posts

Apr 4, 2015

Afghan President Plays Prank on April Fool's Day

April Fool’s Day is a great day for people who deliberately play jokes on one another, but in some countries like Afghanistan April Fool's Day does not exist. What instead these countries have are their leaders who play pranks on them and the world.

The latest prank from Afghanistan came on April 1, 2015 when President Ashraf Ghani announced that his government is ready with ALL its POWER (yes, that is correct, with all its power) to support Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Huthi rebels in Yemen.

"The Afghan government stands with all power by the brotherly government and people of Saudi Arabia in defending the sacred territory should there be any threat." Read the entire statement here.
It is quite amusing to hear the Afghan president announces his country's support for Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a country that is largely responsible for exporting the extreme interpretation of Islam to other Muslim countries. Afghanistan is one of those countries. The Afghan people know all too well what Wahhabism has done to them. They have paid a heavy price to fight against it.

Despite this, Afghanistan now has a new president who seems to be ignorant of all these sacrifices. On the top of that he does not recognize the regional sectarian sensitivity of this issue. I believe he has made a major mistake in his foreign policy, because it appears he has not made a careful assessment of what the repercussions could be. Ashraf Ghani, should be anxious for he has to expect some resentment and anger from Iran. Iran hosts more than two million Afghan refugees, shares a boarder, and has strong historical, religious and linguistic ties with Afghanistan. On the other hand Saudi Arabia shares relatively little except for religion.

So, what compels Ashraf Ghani to stand by Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Huthi rebels with all its powers when Afghanistan's capital and other major cities are being rocked by suicide attacks on a daily basis and its security forces are not able to protect its citizens?

Since taking office in September of last year, Ashraf Ghani has frequently traveled to Riyadh to explore avenues for seeking the Saudi's cooperation with the peace negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The outcome of his efforts and travels to Saudi Arabia have had little affect on Afghanistan. Perhaps those travels will not be significant because the Saudi's have never played a positive role in Afghanistan's peace nor are the Saudi's really interested in the wellbeing of the Afghan people.

What entices the Afghan president to seek the Saudi's support in the peace negotiations with the Taliban is not the Saudi King's initiatives, but rather the sanctity of the oil rich country that hosts Mecca. Mecca has a sacred mosque that attracts hundreds of thousands of Afghans every year.

It is highly unlikely the Saudi will be a successful role player in the peace negotiations between the Afghanistan government and the Afghan Taliban. So, many Afghans look at Ashraf Ghani's statement of support for Saudi Arabia's attacks on the Huthi rebels in Yemen as amusing. It is being looked at like an April Fool's Day hoax/joke. Ashraf Ghani is famous for his stupid and ludicrous remarks among many Afghans. There are some similarities that could be drawn between he and his predecessor, Hamid Karzai.

Mar 1, 2014

Ashraf Ghani, Promises To Ban Burqa If Elected

Women who participated in Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's presidential campaign in Kabul. The photo is taken from his facebook page
For the first time in the history of Afghanistan, a hope ignited for Afghan women to be totally liberated from sexual oppression, imposed by their men. On Thursday, February 27, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, a potential contender for the upcoming Afghan election in April 5, talked to an audience of women who were all in burqas. Under a tight security measure - fearing of women being stolen - the ceremony was held at the Intercontinental Hotel of Kabul and hosted thousands of women from all over Afghanistan.

Wrapped in a khaki Afghan shawl, Ashraf Ghani, emerged with his entourage and went directly to the podium, where a banner proclaimed “tāhāwūl and tādāwūm” (change and continuity). Gazed at his audience while clearing his throat; after resting his elbows on the podium, he started: “Sisters and mothers, you all have endured pains to come to Kabul, and pronounce your support for me,” after a short pause Mr. Ahmadzai continued, “as a servant of you, not as a ruler, I tell you that you will all be liberated, when I am elected a president.”

His voice roused some women from their slumbers. Some were murmuring while some others were quite but anxiously waiting what Mr. Ahmadzai would say to them. Mr. Ahmadzai, spent more than 45 minutes talking about history of western women and how they struggled to obtain their freedom that ultimately resulted to the liberation of their bodies, something that men desire. Everyone seemed bored of his boring long-winded speech; some elder women have already fallen asleep and their deafening snores were reminding of several tanks moving towards the battle field. Worn out of his bombastic speech, almost at the end of his speech, Ashraf Ghani, excitedly took out a piece of paper from his left pocket and after taking a deep breath, and while his right hand still held in the air, he volubly started:
“If I become the president of our motherland, I will issue a decree to ban the burqa that is imposed on you. The central oppression remains in burqa itself, it is a prison, and it clogs up the flowing of thoughts in your brain, which is why people think you are all thoughtless. That is the reason that today, Afghan women are considered by their men as mere chattels: possessions with no rights, and sexual slaves. The reason that you are being treated as sexual slaves, I must say that there is a lack of sex drive in you all, because you all lack libidos, a sexual desire that is important, first, for yourself, and then, for your men. Why? Because it is clear to me that you all hide it under those damn blue burlap sacks, when you walk on the streets, no desire being aroused in men. This is simply a tragedy. What we all have between our legs should sacredly be treated and publically be demonstrated.  Therefore, in order to make a better Afghanistan, I want the women, the 50% of our population, to be part of my team, the “change and continuity.” With this, I mean, I first change you, and then, I continue that change in you."
Ashraf Ghani’s words like aroma of geranium permeated throughout the hall, whiffs of a familiar and unfamiliar smell resided in the limbic system of women who were all in burqas. The impulse of self-attraction and imagination of libido was inflamed in all participants. Under the burqa, some started turning their bodies right and left, then started experiencing twitching and spasming, a small group of them still played with themselves, while some others’ moans have already filled the entire hall.

No one listened and no one knew what Mr. Ahmadzai have said during this time. He left the hall amid magnificent smile and joy pouring from women in burqa onto the floor. One of the Kabul-based newspapers titled the event as “a historic moment for the Afghan women.” Afghan historians simply called it a “turning point” in the history of Afghanistan; while women who took part in the event simply called it the “dawn of Afghan women libido.”