Article written on 03/01/2007
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I returned to Afghanistan as a visitor after spending over six years in England.
I had a picture of the new Afghanistan in my mind before setting foot on Afghan soil.
I spent nearly a month with my Afghan people in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.
The picture I had in my mind before I went and the reality I found seemed so far from each other that my original picture now seems like a fairy tale.
Maybe my expectations were too great or maybe the reconstruction is too slow.
Considering the different factors, I’m now leaving Afghanistan with two different pictures in my mind, the sad picture and the happy picture.
I have tried to shed light on both. These are just the outlines of the pictures I have. Detailed pictures may take me years to complete…
THE SAD PICTURE:
Afghanistan, once taking big steps towards becoming a developed country, is now one of the world’s poorest countries. More than three decades of war have destroyed almost every thing including roads, parks, government buildings, houses, army bases, airports, museums , national heritage sites and much, much more.
The list includes everything that was man-made but the loss is not just limited to man-made things.
The natural habitat including forests and large tracks of once beautiful countryside have been decimated by the American bombing and rich agricultural lands used to cultivate crops, fruit and vegetables has been poisoned and useless for any kind of farming in the foreseeable future.
Three generations of Afghan youth have grown up in complete ignorance through a lack of education. The only skill or knowledge most young men have today is how to fight. For young women it is how to cook the recipes their mothers taught them.
Most women have spent their lives like prisoners in their own homes, cooking and cleaning, and the biggest achievement a typical Afghan man can claim to have mastered in his life is to serve food for their families.
Everyone, men and women, spend most of their time talking about things that they do not have control over. It has now become a habit, and can even be classed as culture. Gossiping, answering people back, and wishing people ill-will run through the veins of many Afghans now.
Talking has taken the place of action. Everyone wants to be in charge of bringing about changes and making everything better, but once they are in a position to do this and are given the opportunity to make a difference, they become blinded by selfishness.
Instead of working for their country and its people, they start lining their own pockets. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn’t use money stolen from Afghanistan. The first attempt for anyone with such opportunities is to try and guarantee that their money is in a safe place by transferring it to foreign banks in foreign countries.
Only some get out of their prestigious positions alive. The attempt at making more and more money eventually takes over their lives. Those who are lucky enough to live, leave the country once the government has changed and never hope to return.
However, such “refugee” ex-patriots retain the right to complain about the current government and the current collection of officials not doing anything for the country while forgetting that when they were in a similar position of power, they did exactly the same thing, if not worse.
Our country today lacks almost all those things that even some of the poorest countries in world have. A lonely, fully constructed building is sometimes seen amongst the vast majority of ruins. It still gives a patriot happiness and hope for a better Afghanistan but the culture of praising the last government that was hated by the majority of the population when it was in power, is sadly still at large.
The current government maybe using some of the aid money to rebuild but most people in power are too busy building their own personal profiles and improving their own finances to pay any attention to the needs of the country.
Intellectuals and those who really want to help the country are disappointed by this attitude so they never even consider returning to the country from years of exile. Most people discourage those who want to do something just out of habit or jealousy.
Just because they cannot do what others can, they refuse to support those who do what they can. Considering all of these shortcomings, it is easy to be discouraged, hence we are what we are, and where we are, today.
THE HAPPY PICTURE:
Amongst all these disadvantages and all the things Afghans have gone through during the past three decades of war, there are still many people who are working round-the-clock, day in, day out for the betterment of our homeland.
They are sacrificing everything they have by risking their lives and any financial resources they may still have to repair and restore the country.
I met so many young and old Afghans that are working so hard just so they can rebuild the country and achieve progress in the current world that they have forgotten they also have personal lives to live.
All of this is done, knowing there is no guarantee that tomorrow will be not be the same, possibly even worst, meaning that all their efforts have gone to waste.
But they have so much courage and love for their motherland that they are willing to risk all and refuse to be discouraged by anything. This is a remarkable view of bravery and courage and if there is truly a jihad to be fought, then this is it.
These people are truly fighting a morally acceptable fight to get Afghanistan to a place where it can compete with other developing , or, even better, developed countries in the fields of education, technology and brotherhood.
Seeing the current generation working so hard and with so much courage and bravery makes every Afghan proud and provides them with the encouragement they need to solider on and keep up the good fight.
Among such great individuals, is a young man named Siddique Mansour Ansari. Ansari holds a degree in journalism and a master’s degree in political science. I have never seen a man so active and determined.
He has been offered ministries in Afghanistan but he has never taken them because he thinks they would tie him down and prevent him from what he is already doing in for his country, which is spreading the light of education in Afghanistan.
He is working on an institute to produce quality professionals that are so desperately needed. He is also working on a school system that has no equal on an international level. His aims are so high and his actions are even better.
I can give hundreds of examples of such honourable, brave, motivated and determined people - people who in simple words are ingenious and know how to put their thoughts in to action.
Every investor thinks twice before investing all of their capital into a project that does not have some kind of certainty but I met people who are risking this, not because they are stupid and don't know that they could lose everything they have but just because they don't care if they lose it because they feel so passionately about doing everything they can to improve their beloved country’s economy.
Again, this is not where it stops. I met professionals who, despite all of the discouragements and dangers are returning to Afghanistan to do whatever they can to help their country.
An example of this would be one of BBC's top journalist Ismail Fatimi who used to live comfortably in London with his family but who has returned to Afghanistan permanently after years of exile. He hasn't returned to claim a ministry like many others but to do everyday things which could benefit his country in greater ways.
Seeing a country so shattered and torn by war, still working so hard towards success is like looking at a miracle in action. Afghanistan and its people have gone through so much that few other countries have experienced in recent times.
One would think that all its people would be discouraged and ready to give in to all the misfortunes that they have faced but that is not the case. People are still fighting in the face of all the misfortunes, standing like rocks against all the discouragement, working round-the-clock to take Afghanistan to a level that every Afghan dreams of, carrying within them so much love for their country all the time that it is hard to find the words to fully explain this phenomena.
Their morals are so high that they can not be shaken, even after three decades of war and they are ready and willing to face another three decades if they have to in order to retain and activate their passion for rebuilding Afghanistan.
Seeing how there are people who are not afraid of any kind of failures and disappointments, who are willing to try as many times as they have to, to win through, it gives all Afghans everywhere around the world hope for a brighter future.
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