Saturday, July 02, 2016 Vol. 1, No. 43

2. Personal Essays3. Opinion4-5. News

6. Star Related7. Literary8. Interview

See Inside Quote of the Week“Someday, somewhere - anywhere, unfail-ingly, you'll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.”

-Pablo Neruda

Star Educational Society Weekly

Interstellar (adjective): situated or occurring between the stars; conducted, or existing between two or more stars

Appreciating the sacrifices made for one’s successShams was an academically excellent person who applied for a managerial po-sition in a big organization. He passed the first interview. The director conduct-ed the last interview and was responsible for the final decision. The director discov-ered from Shams’ CV that the youth’s aca-demic achievements... Page 2

The impacts and challenges of civil society in Afghanistan Despite many challenges, civil society in Afghanistan has an effective role in community mobilization and policy making in Afghanistan. It also helped...Page 3

Russia: Turkish president 'sorry' for shoot-down of Russian military jetMuhammad Ali (1942-2016) was an American former heavyweight champion boxer and one of the greatest sporting...Page 4

One Child’s Harrowing Journey From Afghanistan to Sweden Nasima was doing a mathematics as-signment when her mother informed her of the journey.“You are leaving tonight.”“I did not know how to react,” says the 14-year-old Afghan girl, who now lives with a legal guardian in...Page 6

professor of Religious Studies and of Femi-nist Studies at UCSB, met Lozier in Califor-nia in early May and felt that our initiative was a perfect match for her interns because of our shared language, cultural and reli-gious background with Iran.

The Iranian Studies Initiative has matched two accomplished undergradu-ate student interns with the online writ-ing center for the summer semester. Shirin Enayati is a second-year student at UCSB.

She worked previously as a Feature Editor and Staff Writer for a weekly newspaper and dreams of becoming an editor of a fashion magazine. Rosina Saeed is an Environ-mental Studies major and Feminist Stud-ies minor at UCSB. She is passionate about climate justice and sustainability. Rosina is pursuing a career in environmental advo-cacy and journalism. As part of the writing support services provided by Shirin, Rosina and Kara, they are available to help writers

who wish to have their essays, articles, in-terviews and other writing published in the Interstellar Bulletin.

Although the initiative was only offi-cially announced a few days ago, requests have already been received for a wide vari-ety of writing projects. ROYA Online Writ-ing Center has been asked for coaching and feedback related to: the dissertation of a PhD student in Iran; website content for a new non-profit group; application essays for an internship in Japan; a policy paper for Central Asia Policy Briefs; essays for univer-sity and scholarship applications to schools in Kyrgyzstan, Germany and the U.S.; grant proposals for a Kabul-based non-profit; and many more. In addition, they have agree-ments with an institute of higher educa-tion and other non-profit organizations in Afghanistan to provide writing support for website content and reports.

ROYA’s new interns are looking for-ward to supporting writers in the Afghan community. Together with Kara Lozier, the team will provide English writing support in the form of coaching, feedback, editing and other resources to support the writing projects of interested Afghan individuals and non-profit organizations. You can find ROYA Online Writing Center’s website here: https://roya-owc.com/ or follow them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/royaowc/. If you want to contact them to use their services, you can send an email to royaowc@gmail.com or click the tab on their website that says “Request for Writing Sup-port” to complete and submit a short online form.

Star Educa-tional Soci-ety (Star) is pleased to a n n o u n c e

another new collabora-tion with Kara Lozier and her organization, ROYA-Resources of Young Afghans. Lozier is an experienced student advisor who has been working with international students for over ten years - focusing mainly on Af-ghan scholars since 2007. During Star’s early partnerships with Lozier, it became appar-ent that the need for writing support ser-vices in Afghanistan is great. Our experience with the Interstellar Bulletin has also high-lighted the demand for such support. The idea to create ROYA Online Writing Center was born after our extremely successful collaboration with Lozier for our joint Ful-bright advising services in early 2016.

The concept for the online writing cen-ter is modeled on the writing centers that are offered at many universities in the U.S. These writing centers are typically staffed by university students. To help with the staffing needs, Star and ROYA have partnered with the Iranian Studies Initiative at the Univer-sity of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) to secure student interns. The internship pro-gram matches UCSB undergraduates with non-profit organizations that have a con-nection to the study of Iran, Persian Culture, and/or the Iranian Plateau. Janet Afary, the founder of the internship program and a

ROYA Online Writing Center: Star’s newest partnership

A message from Ali Reza Yasa, Chairman and Founder

During Star’s early partnerships with Lozier, it be-came apparent that the need for writing support ser-vices in Afghanistan is great. Our experience with the Interstellar Bulletin has also highlighted the demand for such support.

thing done. Third, I am more apprecia-tive of the importance and value of fam-ily relationships.”

The director said, “This is what I am looking for in a manager. I want to re-cruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.” Later on, Shams worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team.

Moral: If one doesn’t understand and experience the difficulty it takes to earn the comfort provided by their loved ones, then they will never value it. The most important thing is to experi-ence the difficulty and learn to value the hard work behind all the comfort that is provided.

eyes. I act as I am sleeping because of messaging at least four other messages.

This story was started from my class. I always tried to take class when he had time to come. Usually he had come at one o`clock in the afternoon. I didn’t like that timing, but he forced me to go. Not he; I mean his behaviors and action. I thought them for four semes-ters, and I felt that I am already fall in love with him.

I had a big problem; my pride. Even I didn’t let him speak in the class. I was serious with all and more with him. Sensitive against his homework, pro-nunciation, and lesson till he decided to change his time. I didn’t want to show how I feel. One day he mentioned that he wanted to change his time, and I re-plied as you wish. The day after tomor-row I saw that he had not come neither in my class nor others. My pride didn’t let me show any thing. It was very dif-ficult for me to forget him after eight months. I loved, but I had to forget.

On that time my cousin was send-ing message that I didn’t reply. I replied one day “hi”. This is now that we mes-sage and I rise with it, but I never fall in love.

It is beautiful to have someone that he/she be kind with you. To have some-one that you want to give her/him your time. To have someone that you want to lie. These are not love, just happi-ness and beauties of life. Be sure there is someone special in your life, but you don’t want to share with others.

July 02nd, 2016

Vol.1, No. 43 Personal Essays

Page 2

alized that it was this battered pair of hands that washed the clothes every day to enable him to pay his school fees. The bruises on his mother’s hands were the price she paid for his graduation, ac-ademic excellence and his bright future. After cleaning his mother’s hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, the mother and son talked for a very long time. The next morning, the youth went to the director’s office.

The Director noticed the tears in Shams’s eyes and said, “Tell me what you did and learned yesterday when you went home.” Shams answered, “I cleaned my mother’s hands and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes.”

The Director requested, “Please tell me your feelings.” Shams said, “First, I know now what is appreciation. With-out my mother, I would not be the successful person I am today. Second, by working with and helping my mother, now I realize how difficult and c h a l l e n g i n g it is to get some-

I can feel the brightness of sun; it’s difficult to open my eyes. The bright-ness doesn’t let my eyes be open. I close the window by my toe. I frown; my eyes close in calm. After some minutes I wake up. I search for one blanket, but that is far. I gape; I want to sleep back that I remind my cell phone. I jump over my bed. I don’t know where my phone is; under my padding, on the shelf, near the mirror, on the desk. Finally, I could found it under the cupboard. I unlock the screen soon.

You cannot guess what my pass-word is. It is short, but no one can un-lock it except me. It is beautiful when you see “good morning my best” as a first thing you want to see. Smile comes to your lips. I type my message more than one hundred words. I don’t lock the screen of my phone; I put it near to my head. I look for the next message. However, I know what will come; (I al-ways rise with your favorite song and the perfume that you gave it to me). It is the second message. Actually I memo-rize the messages; they all are repeated, but it is full of interests to read again, every morning.

My mom knocks on the door then enters the room. Rapidly, I close my

any scholarships in school?” The youth answered “none.”

The director asked, “Did your father pay for your school fees?” The youth an-swered, “My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.”

The director asked, “Where did your mother work?” The youth an-swered, “My mother worked as clothes cleaner in a house.” The director asked the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, “Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes or do house chores before?” Shams answered, “Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can work faster than me.”

The director said, “I have a request. When you go home today, go and clean your mother’s hands, and then come to see me tomorrow morning.”

Shams felt that his chance of land-ing the job was high. When he went home, he happily asked his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feel-ings. She showed her hands. Shams cleaned his mother’s hands slowly. His tears began to fall. It was the first time he noticed that his mother’s hands were so wrinkled and covered with so many bruises. Some bruises were so painful that his mother winced when he cleaned them gently with water.

This was the first time that Shams re-

Shams was an academically excel-lent person who applied for a manage-rial position in a big organization. He passed the first interview. The direc-tor conducted the last interview and was responsible for the final decision. The director discovered from Shams’ CV that the youth’s academic achieve-ments were excellent all the way. From secondary school through postgraduate research, Sham’s scores were always ex-ceptional.

The director asked, “Did you obtain

Appreciating the sacrifices made for one’s success

Never fall in love but always rise with it

About the author: Shaista Langari is a Star alumna and a current teacher. She graduated with a degree in educational psychology from Kabul University and is a program assistant at a Kabul NGO. Shais-ta is currently building a career as a new professional artist and recently had her first art exhibit.

About the Author: Parisa Ahmadi is a Star alumna and teacher. She is in the 12th grade and plans to be an engineer in the future.

July 02nd, 2016

Vol.1, No. 43Opinion

Page 3

About the author: Mo-hammad Ali Fakur is a teacher at Star Edu-cational Society and a human rights activ-ist. He has a BA with

honors in Law and Political Science from Gawharshad University and works as a project officer with the Women and Chil-dren Legal Research Foundation.

Despite many challenges, civil society in Afghanistan has an effective role in com-munity mobilization and policy making in Afghanistan. It also helped Afghan people to become enlightened and raised awareness of their fundamental rights. By 2001, after violence had become in-stitutionalized by the Taliban’s extremist agendas, a new chapter in Afghanistan’s socio-political era was much needed. A new sphere for dialogue, advocacy and voicing the concerns of citizens was revi-talized by civil society.

Based on Non-Governmental Organiza-tion (NGO) Law, civil society is defined as: “Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Afghanistan are a number of formal and informal, and non-governmental organizations that are formed by private individuals voluntarily to pursue legiti-mate purposes for a non- profit motive and operate within the legal framework enacted by the government.” The newly established civil society in Afghanistan has overcome many obstacles. It is a platform for citizens’ voices and an outlet for hope for many, most importantly, for excluded and marginalized groups. More specifically, the impact of civil society on policy making, civic participation, plu-ralism, freedom of speech, community mobilization, raising awareness and ad-

national development and strengthen democracy.

In addition, civil society has acted as an independent monitoring body of govern-ment performance and, most crucially, as a partner in Afghanistan’s peace and state-building efforts. The most critical achievements of civil society in Afghani-stan include: improved responsiveness and accountability of government; in-creased empowerment of community members, especially women, through civic participation; advocacy for policy-making to confer legitimacy on policy decisions; increased the pool of policy ideas; supported less powerful govern-ments; countered a lack of political will; helped the state put nationalism aside; promoted development in terms of civ-ic participation and civic engagement; community mobilization and; social change.

On the other hand, the sustainability and success of civic activities are threatened by traditional barriers, armed opposition groups, warlords, religious actors, com-

vocacy has helped the Theory of Change1 to be implemented in Afghanistan.

If civil society did not exist in Afghani-stan, the rule of law could not have been promoted and establishing friendly re-lations between nations could not have been possible. The civil society activities carried out during the past fifteen years have succeeded in making national pol-icy changes and have impacted citizens’ attitudes and behaviors. As a result, the country has experienced more civic and media participation.

Due to the influence of civil society pro-grams, new laws, regulations and policies were drafted and presented to the execu-tive and legislative bodies to be ratified/endorsed. Examples which have been drafted by civil society organizations and then ratified by parliament or endorsed by president/s include: the draft of the Family Law (pending within the legis-lative department of Justice Ministry), Eliminating Violence Against Women (EVAW) Law (endorsed by former presi-dent Karzai), Access to Information Law, Social Organization Law, Non-govern-mental Law, Media law, Election law, An-ti-sexual Harassment Regulation, Afghan National Youth Policy. Civic activities are supported constitutionally and by law, expressing a commitment to an ambi-tious reform agenda which will advance

1- Theory of Change (ToC) is a specific type of methodology for planning, par-ticipation, and evaluation that is used in the philanthropic, not-for-profit and government sectors to promote so-cial change. Theory of Change defines long-term goals and then maps back-ward to identify necessary preconditions.

munity leaders, and other challenges. Meanwhile, the central government has created obstacles to civic and media par-ticipation in spite of the legal provisions which allow such participation. Still, the concerns of religious and ethnic mi-norities are often unheard and women’s meaningful participation is ignored by authorities. If the this pattern continues and the Taliban are integrated into the government through the peace process, the voices of civil activists and media activists will not be heard and their con-cerns will be intensified.

Moreover, the likelihood of extremist agendas and tyrannies increases if the current approach continues. The most crucial challenge facing civil society ac-tivism is the lack of a specific agenda followed by civil society activists. Some NGOs and CSOs follow a mostly ethnic, religious or political agenda. Other prob-lems include a lack of accountability and transparency within the NGO sector. Some CSOs focus more on fund-raising than their intellectual responsibilities. Dependency on foreign donations is a threat to the sustainability of the govern-ment.

In summary, more than nine million girls and women can access their rights to education. Health care, sanitation, employment, freedom of speech and other basic rights have been achieved as a result of funding from the international communities and the establishment and empowerment of civil society in Afghani-stan. Despite many challenges to civil so-ciety, enormous changes have occurred and civil society has succeeded in real-izing visible impacts in different levels of the society-state relationship.

The impacts and challenges of civil society in Afghanistan

If civil society did not exist in Af-ghanistan, the rule of law could not have been promoted and establishing friendly relations between nations could not have been possible. The civil society activities carried out during the past fifteen years have succeed-ed in making national policy changes and have impacted citi-zens’ attitudes and behaviors. As a result, the country has expe-rienced more civic and media participation.

Page 4 July 02nd, 2016

Vol.1, No. 43 NewsFrom President on Down, Argentines Clamor

for Lionel Messi’s Return

Russia: Turkish president 'sorry' for shoot-down of Russian military jet

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESSWritten by: NATACHA PISARENKO

BUENOS AIRES — The president of Ar-gentina, Mauricio Macri, said Tuesday that he hoped to meet Lionel Messi next week and to persuade him to return to the national team.Macri said he had spoken by telephone with Messi, who announced his shock retirement from the Argentine national team after the loss Sunday to Chile on penalty kicks in the Copa América final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.Messi returned to Argentina on Monday, but has not spoken publicly.Macri said he told Messi to “ignore some of the nonsense” because Argentines were happy with how Messi has played. Messi, who moved to Barcelona when he was 13, has often faced tough criticism in Argentina because he has failed to deliver a major title — in contrast to his repeated success for the club Barcelona.Messi is often compared unfavorably with Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title. Macri said he did not understand the criticism of

Source: FoxNews.comThe Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Kremlin reported Monday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin saying "I am sorry" for the down-ing of a Russian jet last November, an incident Putin had called a "treacherous stab in the back."Erdogan expressed his "sympathy and deep condolences" to the family of the killed pilot and "asked to be forgiven," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The letter added that Turk-ish authorities were conducting a probe against a Turkish citizen who alleg-edly shot and killed the plane's pilot as he was descending by parachute, the Kremlin added. The plane's co-pilot survived and was rescued, but a Russian marine was killed by militants during the rescue mission near the border. Er-dogan spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency, that the Turkish leader ex-pressed his deep regret: "In the letter, the president stated that he would like to inform the family of the deceased Russian pilot that I share their pain and to offer my condolences to them. May

made it clear that he expected a formal apology and a compensation of damage. Erdogan's office also said that the Turkish leader called on Putin to restore the tradi-tional friendly relations between Turkey and Russia and work together to address

less draw. “The national team is over for me,” Messi told the Argentine network TyC Sports. “It’s been four finals, it’s not meant for me. I tried. It was the thing I wanted the most, but I couldn’t get it, so I think it’s over.”It did not help that Messi himself lifted Argentina’s first penalty kick over the

Messi.“The truth is that it’s good fortune, a joy, a gift from God to have the best player in the world in a country like ours that is so football-crazy,” said Macri, a former president of the Argentine club Boca Ju-niors.Macri’s lobbying could be helped by a gathering planned for Saturday at the obelisk in central Buenos Aires, the city’s most famous landmark.Support for Messi has been overwhelm-ing on social media as sports figures, art-ists and politicians urged him to return. Billboards and signs also had messages supporting Messi. In the midst of the turmoil, a statue of Messi was unveiled at Buenos Aires city hall — with a soccer ball at his foot — alongside other nation-al sports stars. In another show of sup-port, some members of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup team posed for a photograph with the caption: “Don’t Go Lio.” Mara-dona, the biggest star on that team, was not in the photo. Television commenta-tors have speculated that Messi spoke out in frustration after Sunday’s 4-2 loss on penalties to Chile after a score-

they excuse us."Turkey had previously claimed two of its F-16s shot down the Russian Su-24 bomber because it violated Turkish air-space near the Syrian border and failed to heed warnings to turn around. The co-pilot told Russian media he never re-ceived such warnings.The Russians responded by halting package tours to Turkey, banning most agricultural imports from Turkey and introducing other measures restricting bilateral trade. Before the plane's down-ing, Russia had been the largest destina-tion for Turkish exports, mostly textile and food, and also the biggest source of Turkish imports.The downing of the plane reflected sim-mering tensions between Russia and Turkey, which had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict. Russia's air campaign, which began in Septem-ber, helped shore up Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose foes have been backed by Turkey. Lifting the crippling restrictions was essential for Erdogan, who has found himself under pressure both at home and abroad. Since the in-cident, Erdogan and his ministers have continuously spoken in favor of nor-malizing ties with Moscow, but Putin

regional crises and jointly combat ter-rorism "We are pleased to announce that Turkey and Russia have agreed to take necessary steps without delay to improve bilateral relations," Erdogan spokesman Kalin said.

crossbar, setting the stage for another final defeat. Messi and Argentina lost to Brazil in the 2007 Copa final and to Ger-many in extra time in the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil. They also lost last year’s Copa final to host Chile on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw.

Page 5July 02nd, 2016

Vol.1, No. 43NewsAfghanistan's dwindling Sikh, Hindu communities flee new abuses

KABUL (Reuters) - On a bright day in downtown Kabul, Jagtar Singh Laghmani was in his traditional herb shop when a man turned up, drew a knife and told him to convert to Islam or he would cut his throat. Only bystanders and other shop-keepers saved his life.The incident earlier this month was the latest attack on a dwindling commu-nity of Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan, a deeply conservative Muslim coun-try struggling with growing insecurity caused by an Islamist insurgency and economic challenges.Once a thriving minority, only a handful of Sikh and Hindu families remain. Many have chosen to flee the country of their birth, blaming growing discrimination and intolerance."This is how we begin our day - with fear and isolation. If you are not a Muslim, you are not a human in their eyes," said Jagtar Singh, speaking in his tiny shop in the bustling centre of Kabul. "I don't know what to do or where to go."For centuries, Hindu and Sikh communi-ties played a prominent role in merchant trade and money lending in Afghanistan, although today they are known more for medicinal herb shops.According to Avtar Singh, chairman of the national council of Hindus and Sikhs, the community now numbers fewer than 220 families, compared with around 220,000 members before the collapse of the Kabul government in 1992.Once spread across the country, the community is now mainly concentrated in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Ghazni, and the capital Kabul.Although Afghanistan is almost entirely Muslim, its constitution, drawn up af-

Afghan Commerce and Industries Cham-ber says that merchants are trying to use the custom exemption of Russia in order to export fruit and vegetable. Therefore, the officials say, “about 300,000 tons of vegetable and fruit will be sent to Russia next year.” Khan Jan Alokozay, the assistant of Af-ghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said that recently they held meetings to persuade their merchants to take an active part and increase their ex-port through land and air transportation.In this case, the economists say that they

The Sikhs say local Muslim hardliners have stirred up hostility against them, and the community now requires police protection for their funeral rituals."They throw stones and bricks at us, at the bodies of the dead, whenever there is a funeral," said Avtar Singh, pointing to a newly built house next to the cremato-rium.Dahi-ul Haq Abid, deputy minister for Haj and religious affairs, said the govern-ment had done what it could to improve the livelihood of Hindus and Sikhs."We agree that conflicts pushed them out of the country, but their condition is not as bad as they claim," Abid added."We have allocated them a place to burn their bodies because inside the city peo-ple complained about the smell, but they did not agree," he told Reuters.Harassment is also common.

ter U.S.-led forces drove out the Taliban government in 2001, theoretically guar-antees the right of minority religions to worship freely.But as the conflict drags on, Avtar Singh said conditions were worse than under the Taliban, which imposed strict Is-lamic laws, staged public executions and banned girls from schools.Hindus and Sikhs had to wear yellow patches that identified them in public, but were otherwise seldom bothered."The good old days have long gone when we were treated as Afghans, not as out-siders," Avtar Singh said from a temple in Kabul, all the while keeping an eye on visitors using monitors linked to security cameras."Our lands have been taken by powerful figures in the government, especially by the warlords. We are facing threats, and this small community is getting smaller and smaller every day," he added.Last week, dozens of Hindu and Sikh families left Helmand, where Taliban in-surgents, who have a presence in much of the southern province, sent a letter demanding 200,000 Afghani ($2,800) a month from the community.HOSTILITYTensions have surfaced in Qalacha, an area on the outskirts of Kabul where the Sikh and Hindu community owns a high-walled crematorium.As the capital has expanded in recent years, the neighbourhood has become densely populated and some newer resi-dents oppose Hindu and Sikh crema-tions, a practice foreign to Muslims, who bury their dead."When they burn the body the smell makes our family sick and we don't want this to happen here," said Ahmad Timor, a Muslim resident in Qalacha.

have to use this opportunity and accord-ingly they have to export fruits and veg-etables to some other countries as well. Besides, Nabi Sadaat, one of the econo-mists, has the same idea and says, “If government pays attention on this pro-cess, on marketing and related issues, there will be more chances not only to export to Russia but also from Russia to other countries. According to two last months’ circum-stances, about 57000 Ton fruit and veg-etables were exported to Pakistan and India.

Jasmeet Singh, eight, stopped going to school because of what he said was daily harassment. He and other children from the community now either go to private schools or study inside the temple."While I was at school, other students were making fun of me. They were re-moving my turban, hitting me and call-ing me Hindu and kaffir (infidel)," said Jasmeet Singh, as other boys nodded their heads in agreement.Increasing numbers of Sikhs and Hin-dus have moved to India, their spiritual homeland, but some say they remain for-eigners wherever they go."When we go to India, we are known as Afghans, but when we are here, we are seen as outsiders even if we are native Afghan," said Baljit Singh, a shopkeep-er in Kabul. "We are lost between both worlds."

Written by: By Hamid Shalizi

Local sources in Helmand approved that Taliban have kidnapped 27 passen-gers in Herat-Kandahar route and took them with themselves. Omar Zowak, spokesman of Kandahar mayor reported to BBC that this accident happened in Gereshk district of Helmand province on Thursday, 4 pm. “18 women and kids were also kidnapped in addition to the 27 passengers which were released later,” he added. The Afghan security forces have checked the area. Now they are planning to conduct an operation to liberate the captives.

The Taliban said they kidnapped the

The parliament ratified the bundle of “Afghanistan’s membership in World Trade Organization” by majority on Monday’s meeting. Though some minor members of parliament disagreed with this membership, considering the cur-rent situation of Afghanistan, the bundle of Afghanistan’s membership in World Trade Organization was ratified by ma-jority in parliament.

Afghanistan received this member-ship last year in month of Qaws. The authorities had said at the time that by the membership of Afghanistan in World Trade Organization a lot of eases will be created for the inner merchants and ar-tificers of Afghanistan and the trade of Afghanistan will be standardized to the world’s standards. The authorities have also said that by the confirmation of boards, Afghanistan will be membered formally.

Humayun Rasa, the minister of Commerce and Industries said in today’s meeting for the declaration of the bundle of Afghanistan’s membership in World Trade Organization that about 30 pro-posal and one reform or the condition of reform are included in this bundle that Afghanistan must prepare itself accord-ing to them to achieve the World Trade Organization’s membership.

Mr. Rasa also included that by attest of this bundle by the parliament and its effect, many problems of Afghanistan on transitions with neighboring coun-tries will be solved; because, applying of

27 passengers according to the reports they received and released the remain-ing passengers to continue their journey. They said the passengers are transported to a safe place for further investigations. “Taking the passengers for investigations does not mean we kidnapped them,” Tal-iban said.

About 20 days ago, the Taliban stopped 6 busses in Aliabad District of Kundoz and kidnapped 35 passengers that were going to Takhar from Kabul and killed at least 12 of them. The presidential office says that the kidnappings in High-ways are all intentional.

the principles are compulsory for every member of this organization. The World Trade Organization had given time for Afghanistan to traverse all the neces-sary steps for the membership until June 2016. The conditions of this organization are for Afghanistan to align its products to standards of the world and build ca-pacity. Moreover, this organization has given five years time for Afghanistan to apply all the necessary rules on itself needed for the membership in that orga-nization. Of course, this organization will help Afghanistan in capacity building.

Mozammel Shinwary the deputy minister of Ministry of Commerce and Industries, said in today’s meeting that until now four of the rules are confirmed from the 28 rules needed for the mem-bership of this organization by the par-liament and 12 other rule drafts are un-der work.

According to Shinwary, solution of transitions’ problem, export to the world’s market, foreign investment at-tractions, applying the standards on im-ports, technical help attraction, capacity building, solving the problems on the right way and achieving world’s credit are the benefits of the membership to this organization.

The efforts for getting the member-ship of this organization were started in 2004. By the membership of Afghanistan in this organization, the members of this organization reached to 164 countries in its 20th established year.

Taliban Kidnaps 27 Passengers in Herat-Kandahar Route

The parliament ratify the Afghanistan’s membership in WTO

Afghanistan sells fruits to Russia

Translated by: Walid RahmanySource: BBC Persian

Translated by: Hadi ShaikhiSource: Etilaat-e Rooz

Translated by: Freshta HayatiSource: TOLO News

Page 6 July 02nd, 2016

Vol.1, No. 43 Star Related

with each new immigrant, a set of be-liefs, stereotypes and capabilities move to the new country. Lack of personal se-curity, the fear of rape and loss of family honor are the main concerns that pre-vent families from sending a daughter on such a hazardous journey.

Nasima comes from a conservative back-ground, so sending her away was not an easy decision.

“The neighbors, relatives and friends ac-cuse me of being an irresponsible parent and disgracing the family,” says Nasima’s mother.

In Afghanistan, a vast majority of wom-en still don’t have adequate freedom of movement. During the reign of the Taliban, women were prohibited by law from traveling without a mahram, a man they are forbidden to marry, such as a father, brother or son. Since the fall of the Taliban, women have made signifi-cant sociopolitical and economic gains, but old stereotypes and residual Talibani beliefs still affect women’s freedom. As a result, fewer Afghan refugees are female.

Moreover, in traditional Afghan society, women are considered physically weak and emotionally unstable. Such discrim-inatory beliefs lead traditional Afghan families to doubt whether their daugh-ters are capable of overcoming the hard-ships of the journey.

Investing in sons, who are deemed phys-ically and mentally stronger, seems like a more secure and rational option for traditional Afghan families. Teenage Af-ghan boys also tend to have more inter-est in undertaking the journey in order to prove their manhood. The ideals of masculinity are applied through peer pressure both within Afghanistan and among their social networks in the des-tination country.

Ishaq, a 17-year-old unaccompanied Af-ghan boy living in Stockholm, acknowl-edges that one reason he agreed to un-dertake the journey was that his school friends in Afghanistan challenged him, telling him to “do it if you are a man.”

While Afghanistan’s deteriorating secu-rity, dire economic conditions and un-certainty about the country’s future are common driving forces for youth migra-

Nasima was doing a mathematics as-signment when her mother informed her of the journey.

“You are leaving tonight.”

“I did not know how to react,” says the 14-year-old Afghan girl, who now lives with a legal guardian in Stockholm.

Nasima entered Sweden from the Medi-terranean region in 2015—one of 35,369 unaccompanied children to do so. Simi-lar to most other children making their way to Europe alone, Nasima had no decision-making role in the journey.

“Everything happened in the blink of an eye,” she says, with teary eyes, her voice shaking. “I had no time to say goodbye, even to my sisters and brothers.”

Nasima is a rarity in Sweden. Most Af-ghan families do not allow unaccom-panied women—minors or adults—to undertake such a perilous journey. Ac-cording to data from the Swedish Mi-gration Agency, girls and young women constitute less than10 percent of the un-accompanied minor refugees. In 2015, only eight unaccompanied girls entered Sweden per day, compared with 90 un-accompanied boys.

Migration is a gendered process, and

tion, traditional attitudes skew toward masculinity and reinforce stereotypes.

Nasima’s mother and her four children live in a suburb of Ghazni, one of the most unstable provinces in Afghanistan. Nasima’s father has been an opium ad-dict for almost 15 years and started in-jecting heroin and other substances three years ago. He was heavily indebted to his friend and promised to exchange Nasima for the debt.

“I couldn’t give away my daughter,” says Nasima’s mother. “Am I an irresponsible mother?”

Child marriage, forced marriage and paying off family debt with daughters are commonly practiced in Afghanistan.

“Girls are people’s property,” Nasima’s neighbor says. “The sooner they leave their father’s house with dignity, the bet-ter it is for the family.”

But Nasima’s mother resisted the norm. A friend of hers was leaving for Sweden with her family, and she decided to en-trust Nasima to their care.

Nasima began her journey in Ghazni, then traveled through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Hungary, Aus-tria, Germany and Denmark, until she reached Sweden. Although she started out with her mother’s friend, due to the grueling and sometimes dangerous cir-cumstances of the trip, they did not al-ways travel together. Nasima was essen-tially on her own.

The journey took two months, during September and October, when the mi-gration crisis was at its peak. As she trav-eled through Afghanistan, Nasima lived in fear of the Taliban. While the Afghan unity government has influence over the bigger cities, the Taliban still exerts power in the suburbs and controls the highways. “They would kill me if they see a girl traveling alone,” she explains.

The war between the Taliban and the unity government was still underway while Nasima crossed Afghanistan.

“They were throwing rockets and firing at each other, and we were stuck in be-tween,” she says.

From the Afghan province of Nimroz, Nasima traveled to Pakistan in a truck, with 35 to 45 other men and women. Be-cause the border between Iran and Paki-stan was closed, Nasima and the rest of

the travelers had to wait in Pakistan for eight or nine days.

For Nasima, crossing the border between Iran and Turkey was her worst experi-ence, one that made her feel like giving up the rest of the journey. For six con-tinuous nights, the smuggler asked her group to walk from sunset till sunrise.

“We had to climb a very steep moun-tain,” she says. “The smuggler used to beat us up if we walked slowly or were tired.”

As they prepared to cross the Mediterra-nean, Nasima slept in the jungle for six nights straight due to stormy weather and police surveillance. She thought she was going to die from the cold, rain and hunger.

“For six continuous nights, we were [burning] wood in the jungle to warm ourselves, but when the police were ap-proaching, we had to put it off and bear the cold.”

The horrors of the journey continue to haunt her.

“On the way from Iran to Turkey, I have seen dead bodies lying around,” Nasima says. “The people who were with me wanted to help, but the smuggler did not allow it.”

Although she grew up in a war-affected area and had experienced hardships, her two-month journey to Sweden left her with distressing memories and lingering psychological effects.

Asylum-seeking is a highly stressful pro-cess, and it leaves unaccompanied chil-dren with grave concerns about their future, especially after experiencing challenging journeys.

Once they arrive at their destination, they need more than a guardian, food and shelter in order to move securely forward.

Five months after her journey, Nasima feels a lack of support.

“I cannot share these experiences with anyone,” she says.

A program to help unaccompanied Af-ghan children deal with the psychologi-cal toll of their journeys would help, she says, but Sweden will never be able to fill every void.

“I am happy, but it does not feel home.”

One Child’s Harrowing Journey From Afghanistan to Sweden

About the author: Nazifa Alizada of Afghanistan is a graduate of the Asian University for Women. She is also a 2016 Young Connectors of the Future fellow at the Swedish Institute and has worked as a research assistant for the Family Empowerment Study since 2013. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 36 percent of its population

living below the poverty line. (Pixabay)

Page 7July 02nd, 2016

Vol.1, No. 43Literary

day. The babies coughed for months, and eventually coughed their lives out.

The villagers called it a curse. They cursed the late Ghulam Ali Kakai:

That cursed bastard died and dragged all these kids behind him.

In the later years, cough, rash and disease killed even more children. The rash appeared small and ordinary, then it quickly spread all over their bodies and disfigured their faces and bodies. It killed them. The dead would be so disfigured; their families couldn’t even given them a final bath before burial. Leprosy was a merciless killer.

When I last visited paass-e-gardo, it appeared as if the whole village was there – my brothers, your maternal grandfather, my friends, and relatives. It appears to be full.

*Paass = Beyond*Gardo = Pass; Paas-e-Gardo = Beyond the Pass

StoriesMy Grandmother

Told Me

50 About the author: Hadi Zaher was the first graduate of Quetta's branch of Star Educational Society in the year 1999. He has an MA from the University of Wollongong in Australia and is currently a post-graduate student at the University of New South Wales.

In the year when the black disease came to the village, eight babies were taken to the cemetery at paass-e-gar-do. Before them there was only one grave at the new cemetery. The old

Ghulam Ali Kakai had fallen ill and passed away. The old cemetery was full and too close to the path of the spring floods. For Kakai, the villagers picked paass-e-gardo as the site for the new cemetery – the land there was barren, abandoned and beyond the view from any point in the village. Ka-kai was taken there one late afternoon, and there he rests today. He left behind a daughter, Gul Chaman, and nobody else.

The next year, the specter of the black disease, whooping cough visited the vil-lage. Within a few terrifying months, it killed most of the babies in our small vil-lage, 8 of them. Two died on the same

Pablo NerudaDiplomat, Poet (1904–1973)

Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize–winning Chilean poet who was once called "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language." Born in Parral, Chile, on July 12, 1904, poet Pablo Neruda stirred controversy with his affiliation with the Communist Party and his outspoken support of Joseph Stalin, Fulgencio Batista and Fidel Castro. His poetic mastery was never in doubt, and for it he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Neruda died on September 23, 1973, with subsequent investigations exploring whether he might have been poisoned.

The Wide OceanFrom: ‘Canto General’Ocean, if you were to give, a measure, a ferment, a fruitof your gifts and destructions, into my hand,I would choose your far-off repose, your contour of steel,your vigilant spaces of air and darkness,and the power of your white tongue,that shatters and overthrows columns,breaking them down to your proper purity.Not the final breaker, heavy with brine,that thunders onshore, and createsthe silence of sand, that encircles the world,but the inner spaces of force,the naked power of the waters,the immoveable solitude, brimming with lives.It is Time perhaps, or the vessel filledwith all motion, pure Oneness,that death cannot touch, the visceral greenof consuming totality.Only a salt kiss remains of the drowned arm,that lifts a spray: a humid scent,of the damp flower, is left,from the bodies of men. Your energiesform, in a trickle that is not spent,form, in retreat into silence.The falling wave,arch of identity, shattering feathers,is only spume when it clears,and returns to its source, unconsumed.Your whole force heads for its origin.The husks that your load threshes,are only the crushed, plundered, deliveries,that your act of abundance expelled,all those that take life from your branches.Your form extends beyond breakers,vibrant, and rhythmic, like the chest, cloakinga single being, and its breathings,that lift into the content of light,plains raised above waves,

forming the naked surface of earth.You fill your true self with your substance.You overflow curve with silence.The vessel trembles with your salt and sweetness,the universal cavern of waters,and nothing is lost from you, as it isfrom the desolate crater, or the bay of a hill,those empty heights, signs, scars,guarding the wounded air.Your petals throbbing against the Earth,trembling your submarine harvests,your menace thickening the smooth swell,with pulsations and swarming of schools,and only the thread of the net raisesthe dead lightning of fish-scale,one wounded millimetre, in the spaceof your crystal completeness.

Saturday, July 02, 2016 Vol. 1, No. 43

the remaining five months in Afghanistan where I worked with the PSD (Personal Se-curity Detail) teams for various individuals; I was mainly working on the advance team clearing areas before the rest of the team arrived. While in Kabul I didn’t experience any combat.

With your on-the-ground experience in mind, what are your thoughts about our operations in Afghanistan and else-where? Are we doing the right thing? In my opinion, we are doing everything we can to rebuild that country. But it’s going to take more than killing the Taliban and throwing money at the government to actually suc-ceed there. This is a society that has not had a functional stable government in 35 years (I wouldn’t call the current govern-ment functional or stable). The scars of war are prevalent through blown out buildings, mine fields, tank graveyards, and the ampu-tees that seem to be everywhere. The wars seemed to have made them completely backwards due to the lack of education and communication with the outside world. The success of Afghanistan depends solely on the Afghans and their willingness to step up to contribute to their country by becom-ing educated and cooperating with the peo-ple who are trying to help them.

Did you ever encounter any troops from paramilitaries during your tour over-seas? As a soldier, how do you feel about them? Security contractors are everywhere in Afghanistan, especially the capital. I have never had a problem with them besides that they get paid ten times more than me. I’ve talked to a few of them, and most of them are Americans who previously served in the military and they are hired to protect the interests of other contracting firms trans-porting supplies and equipment to bases throughout Afghanistan or as PSD elements for other contractors working for NATO. I am not aware of them participating in com-bat unless they are attacked. Contractors fill a security void NATO forces don’t have the capabilities to fill. They fulfill a purpose; so therefore I didn’t mind them.

How did the civilian population treat you? The attitudes of civilians toward us varied with ethnic groups and location. In Herat, the Tajiks and Hazara’s seemed genuinely friendly and respectful because not thirteen years ago they were being mas-sacred by the Pashtun dominated Taliban based on their ethnicity. Overall the people of Afghanistan seemed friendly towards us; however, that does not mean they didn’t re-sent us. Afghans would normally put on a smile and although this seemingly friendly farmer or merchant by day could very well be an insurgent planting IED’s at night or even relaying intel on our movements to the Taliban. On certain occasions though, depending on the area, we would get dirty looks from the Afghans, we would have certain gestures waved at us, or even have rocks thrown at us. It was very mixed in the west. In the capital the people on the streets were very aggressive in going about their daily business, Kabul is a tough city, where a lot of people didn’t care about who we were,

know what to do. After that though, when the bullets started flying it was mind over matter, I had to be confident in my equip-ment and I let my training take over. After I got the initial shock of while taking fire for the first time, my thoughts would soon race in this form: where is this son of a bitch and how many of them are there; distance, direction, and description etc. I would also pray that these guys weren’t trying to blow us up with an IED at the same time as the small arms attack. We took contact in more rural areas so I would return fire in the gen-eral direction/area of the shooter to sup-press him and give us time to roll through. We were lucky and didn’t encounter too much danger out there.

You say you wanted to “real world”. With that in mind- after your first tour abroad, what effect has this experience had on you? There is a remarkable amount of suffering in Afghanistan. I’ve grown numb to a lot of tragic things here, because it could always be worse. I’m glad I’ve ex-perienced these realities, because now I am more aware of all we take for granted here in the United States. When I see people’s Face-book status’s complaining about how tough finals are, how much their lives suck, or how terrible of a day they are having, I don’t care, I have no sympathy for them, not because my life is tough or I’m better than them in that respect, but because it’s all trivial. People all over the world don’t even have the opportunity to go to school and be-come educated, instead they fight hunger, poverty, and the cold. They constantly risk being in the wrong place at the wrong time where some fanatic might detonate a car bomb and kill them. That’s a bad day, it’s not something you can just sleep off over a weekend of partying.

Thank you for taking the time to chat with me here, and thank you for your ser-vice. Well, it’s always a pleasure reflecting on my experiences as a whole. Thank you.

The War on Terror and the protracted conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have pro-duced a lot of commentary, news coverage, and statements from officers and leading politicians. At times, it seems as if book deals are routinely distributed to Generals, heads of the joint chiefs, and other notable mili-tary personnel as if post-retirement memoirs were Standard Operating Procedure. An of-ten unreported story however, is that of the soldier on the front lines (when those lines actually exist). In the following interview, held via e-mail- I had the chance to chat with one such soldier who recently returned from his first tour of duty in Afghanistan. The soldier in question is still on active-duty, and has asked to remain anonymous.

What made you want to join the Army? Since I was a kid I always wanted to join the military, I knew that eventually I would serve, but I originally wanted to serve as an officer. I was accepted into several col-leges so I had to make the choice between going to school for four years and becom-ing an officer or enlist right off the bat. As the deadline for enrolling approached, I decided to enlist much to the dismay of my parents, who wanted me to accept an aca-demic scholarship that was offered to me. I came to that decision because I was tired of school and I thought college was a scam and I figured I can be self-educated. I wanted to experience something different in my life; an experience college could never pro-vide me. I felt that many college students are living in a sort of dream world where life is generally a party, while they ignore the fact that the country and the rest of the world is in turmoil or at least fail to grasp the magnitude of the chaos. But, “ignorance is bliss,” right? However, I wanted to see the real world, you know, the one that is fall-ing apart. I didn’t necessarily do it for the money or benefits, but it was also very ap-pealing to earn a solid paycheck every two weeks and with it, pay my own way rather than leeching off my parents for at least four more years. (Please note this is what I thought before I came into the Army).

Where did you serve and for how long, and did you ever face combat/were under fire/etc? I was deployed in support of Op-eration Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan for eight months. I was in the west in Herat province near the Iranian border where we did convoy security missions for NATO. We would run transport and security missions all over Herat Province and sometimes far-ther south into Farah province. Our con-voys were attacked on several occasions by small arms, but since our mission was to protect the convoy, we would push ahead through attacks rather than risk ourselves to seek the enemy out and destroy them as it wasn’t our job. The attacks on us were nev-er really hindered our mission. The major-ity of the time, my job was being the gunner mounted in the turret of an MRAP Maxxpro which gave me the opportunity to observe the country and fire back if fired upon. For-tunately, we were never hit by any IED’s. After about three months of being in Her-at, I was moved to the capital of Kabul for

if we were in their way they would push us. On the other hand, I met several Afghans who worked on base, where most of whom were very friendly and would always try to make conversation in English. Also, the Afghan people were also very generous at times; they were always offering us fresh bread and fruit even though they probably made about three dollars a day.

People often say how, depending where you are in Afghanistan, you feel like you’re traveling through time, with life in Kabul like the late 20th century, and other areas resembling the Middle-Ages. Did you get that feeling yourself? Outside the major towns or cities, in the villages it was like the middle ages; no running water, no electric-ity, no sewage system. I didn’t have much experience seeing remote villages because we stuck to major routes but we would pass through towns that resembled the 15th cen-tury nonetheless, where the poverty is really apparent. Even in Kabul, in a lot of areas, it was like traveling 500 years in one day. In the more affluent areas of Kabul, women would be dressed normally, although wearing a head scarf, but with their face still showing, the buildings looked modern and it looked as if it was almost like a “normal” city. Drive 5 miles away still inside Kabul and you’ll hit mud huts, women in burqas, chickens pecking around, sewage ditches, wild dogs and dirt roads. It was unbelievable.

When you were under fire, what thoughts ran through your mind? The first time I was shot at, I got so startled, I prac-tically jumped back into the vehicle even though I was mostly protected in my tur-ret. I was crouched and my adrenaline was pumping and I felt the blood rushing to my face while I was peeking out of the little win-dows on the sides of the turret looking for the shooter. What I was honestly thinking that first time was “fuck, I’m going to get my head blown off.” It was all over prob-ably within 45 seconds as we drove off. That first time I didn’t return fire, I almost didn’t

“Over There”: An Interview With a US Soldier Returned from Afghanistan

Written by J. Andrew Zalucky, March 2013Republished from: https://fortheargument.com/2013/03/13/over-there-an-interview-with-a-us-soldier-returned-from-afghanistan/

Website: http://www.star.edu.af Email: interstellarbulletin@gmail.com

Editor-in-Chief: Ali Reza YasaEditors: Jonathan Greenburg, Murtaza Qasemi, Murtaza FarjadDesigner: Musa AutbinDistribution: Najibullah Malikpoor 0785103920

B Branch: Yasin Rezayee 0748009565C Branch: Yadullah Rezayee 0776292665Bamyan: Essa Omid 0773609598Daikundi: Hamid Naderi 0767961513

Add: Star Avenue, Sabiqa Stop, Dehburi, Kabul.A Branch Phone: +93-785 10 39 20 / +93-744 56 37 55