Friday, November 21, 2008

One year after mysterious bloody suicide attack of Baghlan



Let’s know and introduce the traitors and foreign hirelings
Last year these days when the suicide attack occurred in Baghlan, tens of civilians were killed but the media coverage only focused on the parliamentarians especially on Sayed Mustafa Kazimi who was killed as well in this tragedy.

Nowadays, one year after that bloody attack, is there any security official among the Karzai administration to report the development on the investigation of Baghlan suicide attack in which more than sixty civilians were killed including many school children? The answer is; diffidently no!



On the other hand it is now on us to introduce the people who were introduced differently to the society but the fact is the vice versa.

Last year on November 7th in a bloody suicide attack, Sayed Mustafa Kazimi along with five other members of parliament and many civilians were killed in Baghlan province north Afghanistan while they were on an official visit of reopening ceremony of Baghlan Sugar factory* in this province.

Later on National Front, the political front in which Sayed Mustafa Kazimi was the speaker and the chairman of the political committee when was alive, claimed that Sayed Mustafa Kazimi was actually assassinated by gun firing after the suicide attack and they have seen four to five bullet holes on his body.

As they claimed, the bullet marks on the deaden body of Mustafa Kazimi was shown to the media and press that Sayed Mustafa Kazimi was fired by gun after that suicide attack.
It would be interesting to review a bit of his life background including his political activities to find out more about his personality and the reason of his assassination.


Has the IRI regime found a successor for Sayed Mustafa Kazimi yet?
The Qods Day Celebration in Kabul after the month of Ramazan, and then the suspicious activities being run by the Ayatullah Shaikh Asef Mohseni Kandahari, Sayed Ali Javed, Sayed Hadi Hadi, Mohammad Akbari and their followers, show that the IRI Regime is still hopeful and optimistic to have their bases again in Afghanistan under the name of religious and cultural activities.
After Sayed Mustafa Kazimi was killed last year, for a time, the IRI officials may have been planning to find a successor for Kazimi in Afghanistan to follow the activities he did.
Thus Khatamunabeein Islamic Center and Tamadon Television both run by Ayatullah Sheikh Asef Mohseni Kandahari where the boys and girls study religious lessons could be a good point for the IRI Regime to centralize their activities for the coming years.

Click here to see the Khatamunabeen Islamic Center in Kabul
Click here to see Tamadon TV website
Click here to see the Qods Day Celebration day in Kabul

Why was Sayed Mustafa Kazimi assassinated?
Sayed Mustafa Kazimi, MP and the former minister of commerce in the Karzai Cabinet who was killed in a pre planned dramatic suicide attack in Baghlan Province during an official visit last year, was a very valuable political figure for the IRI regime.

Kazimi’s gradually political jump and his artifice how to move parallel in every step with the political flow of the country since early 1990s, showed that he was a good apprentice of the IRI politicians for the time of formation of political fractions and opposition groups in political ground of Afghanistan in the later years.

His role play crafts in the political games of the last decade, when he found a place as a religious figure among the Hazaras and then as a political ally with the Tajiks during the civil war of 1990s, attracted the IRI regime to open an account on him with tremendous amount for the later years when there will be a chance for the IRI to use him as a political tool in the country.

Based on this fact, when Kazimi stayed in Iran since the Mujahedin’s overthrown by the Taliban in 1994 until the Bonn Agreement took place in late 2001, he has expanded his relationship with the IRI regime senior officials as a main relying point to have his later projects in post Taliban period after 2002 . Although this was not the only period he moved to Iran while he was in Iran in his youth where he has studied as said by his relatives.

Kazimi has had a presence in Bonn Conference in late 2001, and then was appointed as the minister of commerce in both the interim and transitional governments following the Bonn Agreement.

Later in 2005 when the parliament was going to be established he ran in the parliamentary election from Kabul and was elected as an MP from Kabul.


Within the Parliament in Kabul
Having adequate financial resources provided by the IRI Regime, Mr. Kazimi was feeding his Party Iqtedar e Milli (The National Sovereignty) with a huge expense where he had his party’s publication at the same time, he could expand his relationships with the economical figures he got to know during the ministry of commerce and influenced the parliamentarians when he became the chairman for the economical committee of the parliament as well as the chairman of Isteqlal (independence) parliamentary group.

There were some of the reasons that made Sayed Mustafa Kazimi a real pain -in- neck for Karzai administration and he was assassinated in a dramatic suicide attack last year in Baghlan province.

In his late speeches and press conferences when represented the National Front, Sayed Mustafa Kazimi would approve to be a real and frank critic of Karzai Administration as well as one of the main brains of the National Front that is the main and the largest opposition group in the country.

Based on the role he played in the political games in the past the IRI Regime had opened a tremendous account on him with a huge financial resources whereas he would run his party, would feed his publication and supported many educational centers as campaigning centers for him and his party and the IRI Regime in Kabul.

He would be considered as a definite nominee by the National Front for the presidential election of 2009 that could be a serious challenge for Karzai

From 2002 up to 2005 he has shown a step by step evolution in the political ground of Afghanistan as well as his interrelation with the economical decision – makers and investors such as chamber of commerce and members of AISA during and after the time of his ministry demonstrated his leadership capability being built in him by the support of IRI Regime.

His influence in the lower house that resulted him not only to be the chairman of the economical committee but also the leader of a parliamentary group called ISTEQLAL, would help him make an anti western mobilization within the lower house of the parliament that was also supported by the IRI Regime.

Last year after his murder, the BBC Persian website wrote the following lines on his political life:

This part is written by: Dawood Naaji BBC Persian Correspondent in Kabul
Translated by Amin Wahidi

Sayed Mustafa Kazimi from Jihad time up to the Parliament

Sayed Mustafa Kazimi a notable member of the Afghan Parliament was killed with some other parliamentarians and many civilians in a suicide bloody attack in Baghlan yesterday.

Mr. Kazimi was a notable Afghan political figure in the recent years. He was born in 1959 in Lolinge a village in Parwan province.

In his youth, he left Kabul and joined Sepaah e Pasdaran e Inqilab e Islami e Afghanistan (Afghanistan Islamic Revolution Guarding Force) led by Mohammad Akbari to fight against the communists.

On that time he was mostly residing in Iran.

Hezb e Wahdat (The Islamic United Party of Afghanistan)
In the year 1989 when the eight Afghan Shiite Parties that were established in Iran all came together and formed Hezb e Wahdat e Islami Afghanistan (United Islamic Party of Afghanistan) Sayed Mustafa Kazimi was a member of the central council of this party.

In the years when Hezb e Wahdat under Abdul Ali Mazari Leadership was fighting against the Mujahedeen Government of Burhanudin Rabani (early 1990s), this party was diverge into two parts; Mr. Kazimi supported the part lead by Mohammad Akbari.

Coalition with Rabani and Masoud
Kazimi and his party Hezb e Wahdat of Akbari part joined with the government of Rabani and became a member of the leadership council of the government.

His cooperation and support continued with Ahmad Shah Masoud thereafter and once he organized a joint attack on Hezb e Wahdat forces of Karim Khalili branch in order to conquer Bamyan.

Sayed Mustafa Kazimi stayed with Ahmad Shah Masoud and become a member of Afghan Defense National Front which was later famous as the Northern Allies.

As minister in Karzai Government
After the collapse of the Taliban, Sayed Mustafa Kazimi was a representative of The Northern Allies in Germany Bonn Agreement on Afghanistan Issues.
And then become the minister of commerce in both interim and transitional states of Afghanistan.

Presence in the Parliament
In the first parliamentary election of Afghanistan, Sayed Mustafa Kazimi ran for the office from Kabul and was elected as a representative from Kabul.

Soon he became a notable member in the parliament and took the presidency of Economy Committee of the parliament while at the same time he administered a parliamentary group called ISTEQLAL (independence).

The relatives of Sayed Mustafa Kazimi say that during the years of Jihad (the holy war against the former USSR) he had completed his studies in a half private university in Iran as well as in the recent years, he was a far distance student of Iranian University of Piam e Noor for a Masters Degree.

With the National Front political group
The latest political attempt of Sayed Mustafa Kazimi was membership in the National Front of Afghanistan that is the main opposition group in the country where many other former Mujahedeen leaders and communist party members have membership.
Mustafa Kazimi was the chairman of the political committee and the spokes person for the National Front.

He had three sons and three daughters when he was killed.

Click here to see the original post of BBC Persian

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Will Karim Khoram support this project?!



Afghanistan towards La Biennale di Venezia
Lately a group of the Afghan Artists residing in Italy has come together in Venice with some Italian art activists to evaluate the possibilities of presence of Afghanistan in the International Biannual Contemporary Arts Festival of La Biennale di Venezia for the year 2009.

It would be the second time in the history of La Biennale di Venezia since its establishment in between 1895 - 1907 that Afghanistan is going to represent traces, while the first time and only for once in 2005 Afghanistan had a presence in this festival with Afghan Artists in Europe and America. But this time, four years after first representation, the working group is making efforts to establish a permanent pavilion for Afghanistan in the La Biennale that would expose Afghanistan’s unaccustomed art and culture not only to the Italians but to a variety of nations who have permanent representation there every two years.


The official committee of La Biennale in the Giardini di Venezia where this biannual festival is held does the formal protocols with the ministries of culture or its equivalent structure of the countries and based on its agreements provides the place for the pavilions while the logistical supports and the primary materials for the construction of the pavilion, transportation of arts traces etc all have to be provided by the countries representing their arts.

The talks in this regard have begun these days and the administrative works are getting done in the primary levels, while there are a lot of challenges and problems ahead of this project.

To be optimistic this would be an important happening that would have a contemporary image of Afghanistan to the world through the art works of the Afghan Artists but still there are doubts if the government of Afghanistan is going to support this project seriously.

The first challenge would be the lack of capacity and intelligence in the Minister of Information and Culture to understand the value and importance of this project as a part of his responsibility.


While the Ministry of Information and Culture is a government structure for promoting and supporting cultural - artistic activities, unfortunately the minister is not an artist but has proved to be a fundamentalist Mullah.

With a strict religious background and obstinate behavior, Karim Khoram, promotes fundamentalism in the country instead of supporting the arts and culture projects; opposing the reopening of a cinema in Herat, banning on Indian soap operas on Afghan television channels, rejecting the Bamyan Buddha Statue reconstruction project, expelling media workers for using their mother tongue in their reports etc are the clear examples of his fundamentalist attempts.
Considering that the Afghan governmental budget is still dependent on the foreign aids, the project seem to face financial resources which needs other solutions such as referring to the private sectors as the partners after the formal and administrative protocols are finalized. That could be a solution.

La Biennale Internazionle di Venezia, held in Giardini di Venezia every two years, is a chance artistic- cultural appearance of different nations …… Read more …..
By Amin Wahidi

Monday, November 17, 2008

Afghanistan LongTongue on the way

Voice of Criticism
Another blog to reflect the Afghan intellectuals’ writings in English

Soon my second blog is ready to reflect the writings, opinions and discussions of the accredited Afghan writers, researchers and intellectuals in English for the people of world interest in and concerned about Afghanistan.

In this page we reflect the writings and criticisms of the Afghan as well as foreigner intellectuals, writers and bloggers on issues such as Politics - Governance - Civil Society - Human Rights & Freedom of Expression in Afghanistan.

The main goal of this blog is to create a space for dialogue and sharing writings, opinions and criticisms for a positive purpose and that is bringing changes and making better the functioning of the government body, the rule of law and to promote the civil society in the country.

As we work for a better Afghanistan, we believe that the positive criticism is always a maker and thus we share with you in this page the writings and opinions of the writers, bloggers and researchers who are known to be Long Tongue Writers* in this way every one can judge the progress of process of young democracy in war effected Afghanistan.

Following the motto, “We are also to bring changes in our country”, and by the help of the writers and intellectuals through this blog we are to see how we can bring changes in the strategy of the International Community in the tiresome and long lasting war in Afghanistan by lobbying the decision makers through providing pure and real information and consultations through real eyes based on the existing realities in this country.

While inviting and welcoming the Afghan writers, researchers and intellectuals for sending their writings for translation and posting in this blog, we would accept and appreciate writings about Afghanistan in English by the foreign writers and researchers who believe in changes in Afghanistan.

Give us hands of support and be the first ones to send your Dari writings to be translated in a standard quality and to be posted in this blog.


* Long Tongue (zaban daraz in Dari) is a Dari Persian phrase for the person who has a critical language.