More than 6 million Afghans live outside their homeland, not least because of the years of war, but also because of the Taliban takeover in 2021. Many share a longing for their homeland and the urge to make a difference there, but lack the necessary platform and contact with other Afghans worldwide. So how can a Disapora network be set up and what should it aim to achieve?
It is reasonable to state the more diverse an ecosystem is, the more stable it is. Because the more variety it contains, the more adaptable it will be to external conditions. From this standpoint Afghanistan, with its multicultural population and worldwide network of diaspora, holds the potential for great societal stability – and thereby, also, a long-sought-after, sustainable peace. That is, if the strengths that come with these differences are recognized and harnessed.
Today, that is not so much the case. In fact, Afghan society is riddled with division due to its ethnic, religious, cultural, political, and historical differences. As a gateway between Asia and Europe, Afghanistan’s strategic location has seen foreign conquerors rampage the mountains and foothills of these lands forcenturies. This, combined with millennia of trade along the Silk Road, has left a linguistically and culturally diverse, yet today segregated population behind.
The four largest ethnic groups in the country consist of the Pashtuns, making up around 45 percent of the population; the Tajiks who form around 30 percent; the Uzbeks and the Turkmen around 10 percent, and the Hazaras making up the last 15 percent. Since the other ethnic groups share the common religion of Sunni Islam, while the Hazaras mainly practice Shi’a Islam, religious divides have led to their marginalization. With the Taliban who are largely of Pashtun origin regaining power in August 2021, the brutal repression of the Hazaras involving targeted suicide bombings, mass shootings, and forced evictions has increased.
And it is not only the Hazaras who are affected by the continued deterioration of human rights in the country. Women and girls in Afghanistan are experiencing such high levels of abuse, including bans from education, work, and freedom of speech, that they amount to “the crime against humanity of gender persecution”, according to Human Rights Watch. A UN report from 2023 shows a rise in extrajudicial killings and torture since the Taliban came back into power two years prior, as well as the use of cruel punishments such as stoning and flogging.
Combined with the looming humanitarian crisis, with 90% of the population living below the poverty line, and millions lacking access to clean drinking water, food, and reliable healthcare, the Taliban takeover hence appears to be drastically exacerbating already existing issues.
When the Taliban previously rose to power in the 1990s, after decades of conflict that had torn the Afghan society to pieces, some believed the opposite. “People were tired of divisions and civil war. Afghans and even foreign nations saw them as saviors”, explains Farhad Khurami, a member of the Afghanistan New Generations Experts Network (ANGEN). “They thought that this group of Madrasa students would come and unite the country”. And some still believe that to be the case, due to their shared ethnicity, as well as theoverall decrease in fighting since the US withdrew its forces, enabling the Taliban to take over.
Yet, as pointed out by Afghan youth worker Waheed Zaheer, “absence of war is not peace”. Rather,according to peace researcher Johan Galtung, for peace to prevail harmony must be present within a society. That does not mean the complete absence of conflict – which is a natural, healthy, and inevitable part of social interactions – but rather the absence of violent responses, and the presence of solution-oriented means of solving these disputes.
“If the Taliban would want peace, none of us would be diaspora. We would be sitting in Afghanistan discussing what the future should be. But unfortunately, what they want is unconditional surrender for all Afghans,” explains Khurami.
Hence, despite the previously mentioned differences, most Afghan diaspora are according to Khurami, united on one front. They strongly disagree with how the Taliban currently (and historically) run the country. “I think we all agree that the Taliban is an aggressive, brutal regime. That people under their rule are deprived of their basic rights. I don’t think any modern, rational human being would want such government,” says Khurami.
However, there is – naturally, predictably, and promisingly – division among the diaspora on how to tackle this issue. In the eyes of Bashir Daneshvar, Vice-Chair of Afghan Journalists Support Organization, accepting the Taliban as the current government and pressuring them to comply with international laws regarding human rights is the fastest route towards achieving not only humane, but prosperous living conditions for the Afghan people.
Referring to the 2001 Bonn conference, where foreign nations elected a new leader for Afghanistan upon the removal of the Taliban regime by a US-led International Coalition, Daneshvar points to the mistake of leaving the Taliban out of the dialogue, since it led to them overthrowing the government that was established in their absence: “As a consequence, now we are watching the atrocities they commit, as the only party ruling Afghanistan.”
Instead of opting for an enforced government takeover, Daneshvar believes the solution lies in putting enough political pressure on the Taliban to accept other parties running for leadership of the country: “So that we can build a sustainable government, without starting new wars”. He envisions this approach to include the Afghan diaspora acting as mediators, facilitating talks between the Taliban and host governments, to foster understanding and peace. Khuram, whose name was changed to protect anonymity, is an Afghan media and communications professional working for the International Organization for Transitional Justice and Peace who ascribes to the opposite school of thought:
“What we ask of the International community is for them not to engage with the Taliban, not legitimize the Taliban, not normalize the Taliban, as their regime is against the rights of the Afghan citizens, as well as the world’s interest, which is fighting against terrorism and extremism”. He believes they must be fought by force since that is their ‘chosen language’.
Accordingly, Sosan Hashimi, Founder of Ravi Zan Media Organization, an independent media focused on women’s rights in Afghanistan, holds that the diaspora plays an important role in gaining political support from the international community not to legitimize the Taliban.
Albeit polar opposites in their approaches, these suggestions share a common denominator. They are calling for the rights of the Afghan people to decide their own fate as a nation, rather than having it imposed upon them by external forces, or byself-proclaimed leaders.
Similarly to political divides within any other country, the division within the Afghan diaspora of how to move Afghanistan towards a better place is proof of a healthy conflict, which can be managed as such, if there is a platform for this to happen. This is what Khurami is calling for. “I don’t think we can have a harmony, where all the diaspora says the same thing, there would be disagreements on the ethnic lines – which is normal. Afghanistan is a diverse country, and different ethnicities see their vulnerability differently.” The important question, according to Khurami, is not if there will be disagreements – but where these can be discussed.
With the lack of a democratic system allowing for political expression through electoral power, the Taliban’s increasing media censorship, their targeted internet shutdowns, and their regime of intimidation, spaces for such discussions do not exist within the country. This is where the largely untapped power of the Afghan diaspora comes into the picture. In the fight for human rights, women’s rights, and freedom of speech within Afghanistan, knowledge is their sword.
“The weapon we have is raising awareness”, says Khurami, pointing to the need for platforms allowing the Afghan diaspora to come together for this cause. “Because me as an individual, no matter how much I hate the Taliban, I may not be able to do anything. But if there’s ten of us, if there’s a hundred, then we can do certain things.”
Upon this basis, the online network ANGEN was formed. The idea, explains Khurami, is “to have a platform where we can all come together, discuss challenges, define a future in which everyone can see themselves.” Once that is defined, he holds, the path forward will become clearer, since alternatives to the Taliban will thereby be established.
By merely envisioning the future we desire it becomes more real, as it enables us to move towards it– and to share it with others, for them to join in on the journey. Hence, by forming global networks through platforms such as ANGEN; offering their unique strengths to one another; and working towards finding a shared political terminology, fair compromises, and common ground, the prospect of a new Afghanistan will rise for every diaspora who partakes.
“Combatting the Taliban does not only mean that you should go and fight with them”, says Khurami, “there are different ways to fight”. For now, the way appears to be: Unite.
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