Girls in Turbans
(excerpt)
Occasionally when I'm invited to speak about my experiences in Afghanistan, the host is concerned that the presentation will not be sufficiently political. Is getting educated a political act? What does it mean to be a Hazara in Afghanistan? Are little girls dancing on stage political? What if they are wearing turbans? Is anybody dancing on stage political?
During the time of Taliban rule, the Hazara were the most victimized and massacred. Susana, our Pashtun translator in Herat, told me that when she and her family were fleeing to Iran, their car was repeatedly stopped and searched for Hazara. They would have been summarily executed had they been in the car, she says. One of my Afghan creative writing students writes a monologue for the character of a Hazara: “Have you noticed the karachiwans -- those grizzled men pulling carts to haul other people’s goods, construction materials, etc. You know the ones I’m speaking about. Most of the karachiwans are Hazara, the ‘blacks’ of Afghanistan, the old guys deprived of education as I am right now in the down of the 21st century.”
The Hazara are among the best and most serious students at American University in Kabul, the least likely to act entitled. Like most Hazara, Jafar’s family fled their home in Bamyian for Iran during the Taliban era. He grew up there and was educated through high school, but as a foreigner, continuing his education in Iran was not an option. Neither was voting or being politically active. The only work he could get was in construction. He decided to return to his own country, but he had no passport. The only choice was traveling across the mountains from the Iranian border east to Bamyian. It’s worth looking at a map to have an idea of how daunting this is. Between Herat on the Iranian border and Bamyian, there is almost nothing but snow-capped mountains. Jafar is completing his junior year at American University with a major in Sociology.
S Theater Company is based in the Hazara ghetto of Jebraiel outside Herat on the Afghan border with Iran. The only choice for trained actors in Afghanistan is TV but there are no Hazaras on Afghan TV; it’s one of S's major complaints: that they spend years training good actors who eventually must give it up.
(excerpt)
Occasionally when I'm invited to speak about my experiences in Afghanistan, the host is concerned that the presentation will not be sufficiently political. Is getting educated a political act? What does it mean to be a Hazara in Afghanistan? Are little girls dancing on stage political? What if they are wearing turbans? Is anybody dancing on stage political?
During the time of Taliban rule, the Hazara were the most victimized and massacred. Susana, our Pashtun translator in Herat, told me that when she and her family were fleeing to Iran, their car was repeatedly stopped and searched for Hazara. They would have been summarily executed had they been in the car, she says. One of my Afghan creative writing students writes a monologue for the character of a Hazara: “Have you noticed the karachiwans -- those grizzled men pulling carts to haul other people’s goods, construction materials, etc. You know the ones I’m speaking about. Most of the karachiwans are Hazara, the ‘blacks’ of Afghanistan, the old guys deprived of education as I am right now in the down of the 21st century.”
The Hazara are among the best and most serious students at American University in Kabul, the least likely to act entitled. Like most Hazara, Jafar’s family fled their home in Bamyian for Iran during the Taliban era. He grew up there and was educated through high school, but as a foreigner, continuing his education in Iran was not an option. Neither was voting or being politically active. The only work he could get was in construction. He decided to return to his own country, but he had no passport. The only choice was traveling across the mountains from the Iranian border east to Bamyian. It’s worth looking at a map to have an idea of how daunting this is. Between Herat on the Iranian border and Bamyian, there is almost nothing but snow-capped mountains. Jafar is completing his junior year at American University with a major in Sociology.
S Theater Company is based in the Hazara ghetto of Jebraiel outside Herat on the Afghan border with Iran. The only choice for trained actors in Afghanistan is TV but there are no Hazaras on Afghan TV; it’s one of S's major complaints: that they spend years training good actors who eventually must give it up.