Iran’s stature fades in Afghanistan
HERAT, Afghanistan — Students at Afghanistan’s Herat University thought they were living in new era of openness, one in which the right to criticize authority was increasing.
Last week, however, officials at the Iranian consulate in Herat, near the Iranian border, complained to the Afghan Ministry of Culture that the student newspaper, Pegah, was inappropriately critical of Iran’s crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators.
The newspaper was closed for 10 days, the university fired the responsible journalists, and the paper was reopened with no news of the protests.
The measure, however, is likely to backfire among Afghanistan’s increasingly educated and media-savvy younger generation. Student groups denounced the newspaper’s closure and refused to hold their tongues in public.
Mohammed Faqiri, the spokesman for Herat University’s New Generation Club, admits that his group has some advanced views for young people in a traditional Muslim nation, but he’s sure his group is in the mainstream on one issue: Iran.
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Mac Says:
Although this starts off talking about suppression of the media in Herat, the story seems to imply we’ve made more progress in Afghanistan than it would appear on the face of things.
Posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Jack Says:
Indeed. That’s why I posted the story.
Posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 7:32 am
nomdeblog Says:
The article covers the interplay of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. It doesn’t mention the role of Pakistan ( harbouring the Taliban) nor the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia which is where it all started with their backing of bin Laden in Afghanistan. There are a lot of state and non-state actors involved in this regional mess.
In other words this is not about real countries whose borders are just lines in the sand drawn by the victors in World War conflicts. It is about tribalism in a region whose population is exploding. Tribalism, with nomads wandering around like they did in 700 A D, will no longer work in large populations. Only democracy will work and until they figure that out, the regimes in the region will continue to implode. Iraq is the best model so far.
Posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 10:00 am