November 07th, 2015

Vol.1, No. 14 Personal Essay

India can be termed as a secular, socialist, democratic republic country, and the best thing I have learned from India is tolerance and acceptance of social diversities, which are the outcome of secularism and the cornerstone of stability and development of a great nation. Long story short; we get to learn redundant amount of effective ways of dealing with quandaries and predicaments with little facilities, within a limited time, from the Republic of India.

Adopting a non-alignment foreign policy, India has always been a reliable neighbor to not only the countries she shares boundary with, but also her farther

unpopular as a result of his feeble governance that subsequently had laid the foundation of widespread corruption, and resurgence of (neo) Taliban, which, consequently had taken hundreds of civilian lives. People also had forecasted that Karzai would win the majority of votes. As a result, an atmosphere with a kind of public demoralization was created which could prevent many people from voting and dash hopes for substantial progress after the election.

The results’ announcement of the second presidential election did not sound surprising. Karzai had won more than 50% of the votes polled, however, this election was tainted by lack of security, low voter turnout and extensive ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud. Although Karzai accepted a second round run-off vote after two months, his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the race and the Independent Election Commission announced Karzai as the democratically elected president of Afghanistan. Karzai was back!

Meanwhile, I was busy with my own chores such as participating in the martial arts competitions in city and district levels and accumulating certificates and medals, and also learning both, English and Persian. It is worth mentioning that I did join Pashto classes and really wanted to learn it (I still do), yet I was not lucky enough to find a meritorious instructor who would teach according to an accepted system, and who could help me choose what type of Pashto I was to learn. (Every region has its own type of Pashto with extensive differences in regards to connotation and usage of words and expressions).

My father was a popular person amongst a wide range of people, which ultimately meant that so many Afghans wanted to congratulate his new position and also seek his official assistance. Students for that matter were always welcomed to even stay for few days till their problems were dealt with, in either our own residence or any other facilitated shelter inside the

neighbor; Afghanistan. Thousands of afghan youths are granted educational scholarships annually to study at Indian universities in her different states. Although many afghan students have mostly disrespected Indian culture as well as its rules and regulations, yet, India is still providing larger number of generous scholarships each year (around one thousand annual educational scholarships). Well, there are rumors about Indo-afghan relationships; according to some, India is trying to build strong fraternal relations with Afghanistan to “sandwich” her rival neighbor i.e. Pakistan. However, we too, have reasons to believe that this strategy is mutually advantageous. Therefore, it is wise to go with the flow!

My diplomatic life in India could not last long for as a dependable and responsible child, I was assigned a mission; to return to Afghanistan and look after the rest of my family in the absence of my elder brother, who wanted to fly to Australia for his post-graduation. I really missed Kabul, and accepted it with a military salute.

Becoming the sole young boy now, my family in Afghanistan paid utmost attention to me. My brother, despite of his abhorrence against motorbikes, bought me a “big” mountain one, the joy of riding which I cannot forget. I used to ride it to the school where I studied, Mawla Wushu Club; where I was being trained by the ever-champion Master Amir Shah, as well as to Star Educational Society for English tuitions from either sir Hussein Yousofi or sir “Changiz”1 himself. So to say, it was being utilized for significant and legitimate purposes!

Zooming out of my personal life, Afghanistan was under the pressure of the international community to bring political and economic stability and equity. Meanwhile, Karzai was occupied with preparation for his second presidential election under the slogan: “Karzai, the symbol of National Unity”. On the eve of presidential election (20th, August, 09) Karzai seemed, at once, profoundly

consulate building. Since many of our close relatives were studying in Pune, Goa, Mumbai, and other areas under the jurisdiction of Afghan Consulate, we had to host many people with the same amount of hospitality any Afghan would show to their guests. Unfortunately, other Afghans who envied the “extra” services, ‘intentionally’ misinterpreted it. As a result of the heavy pressure from the “majority” of the students and afghan residents in India, my father was asked to return while more than half of his four-year tenure was remaining. “We will further discuss the matter once you return” said the high officials to my father, “your presence at the ministry is essential.”

About two years later, I graduated from school and sought a career as a martial arts trainer for a short time while at the same time studied one semester of Civil Engineering at Kardan University.

My life was full of anxiety and I felt the necessity of a major change, which could alter me and add to my perspicuity. I decided to go abroad for my higher educations; hence, I applied for educational scholarship offered by India.

It was the second day of Ramadan Eid when I received a phone call from the Indian embassy, Kabul. The good news I got, made us celebrate two Eids in one day. Few days later, I along with some other students arrived to Chandigarh, the beautiful city, and the day after, we were introduced as freshmen to the Punjab University the motto of which was: “Tamso ma jyotir gamaya”. (From darkness, lead me to light!)

The kind of life we were to experience could not be preddicted, nor could anyone forecast the hurdles and hard days impatiently waiting ahead to illustrate the reality of life. We had stepped into an “adventurous” life, and my journey towards a better self had already begun!(The remaining story will be presented after a few weeks)1- Changiz is the nick name of Ali Reza Yasa.

Third part of

The itinerant life of a young Afghan: an auto-biographyA concise story of upheavals since 1992

“Tamso ma jyotir gamaya”: (From darkness, lead me to light!)

About the author: Murtaza Qasemi is a Star Alumna and a current instructor of ESL in Star A Branch. He graduated from the de-partment of Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. He was the grand rep-resentative of Afghan Students in India. He organized numerous football tournaments, declamation and poetry contests for the inter-national students.

November 07th, 2015

Vol.1, No. 14Community

reflects a sign of the poverty of the East. Their Eastern eyes view the fossilized and hollow bodies of the Western and recognize a holy secret: a gazing of the poor upon the sunset from the shore.

In Goa, great talents of strange human beings can be observed. Tens of Sarahangs and Ahmad Zahirs[1] with heart-grabbing voices sit on the corners of dusty, slum streets amazing and entertaining the tired travelers. One can see countless large and small likenesses of Hindu gods everywhere as Hindu sculptors imagine themselves in the beautiful carvings of their gods. The blood of Christ also flows in the veins of this city. The Goa Christians find themselves prosperous in this blood. The voice of the Muslim azan[2] from the loud speakers of

Goa: a tiny city like a patch on the forehead of the ocean. Goa is an extraordinary and enchanting city with a simple appearance but strange and ambiguous secrets hidden beneath its surface. Under the skin of the city a world of literature, poetry, and art boils up. The artistic creations of the people of Goa are interwoven with its virgin and wild nature. In Goa nothing is worthless. Everything is used in its place and everything in its place is the best and has the ability to express itself in its own special language. In Goa we often observe the greatest use of the slightest opportunity. The garbage on the sides of the street and the leaves fallen from the trees are as capable of expressing the beauty of the city as the ocean waves which dance

masjids gives a new voice to the Hindu gods and grants a fresh soul to the crucified body of Christ. Churches, masjids and temples stand hand-in-hand to present Goa in an even more fanciful and imaginary way. Beside these centers of religious voices, the beautiful night clubs with Indian and international artists encourage people to dance, celebrate, and sing the song of happiness.

Here is Goa: a small city, like a great and colorful patch on the forehead of the ocean.

[1] Sarahang and Ahmad Zahir were legendary musicians in Afghanistan whose songs are still listened to more than 30 years after their deaths.[2] The Muslim call to prayer.

wildly in the breeze until they surrender at the feet of the sandy beach. In this special place the music of nature silences the loud voices from the throat of culture and brings a melody of peace to pacify our ears. Here is where the deep spirituality and rich culture take flight on the bird of imagination.

Various restaurants with their diverse menus remind me of the palette of strong, vibrant colors used in Bollywood movies. The sunset of Goa connects the mysterious world of the East to the alluring appeal of the West. The Western tourists, like cursed wandering spirits weary of the magic of modernism, are dancing on the beaches entranced by the mystical charm of the East. The contemplative eyes of the Eastern gaze upon the proud bodies of the Western

About the author: Ali Reza Yasa is the founder and Chairman of Star Educational Society. He is the only instructor who has been teaching at Star for the past 17 years. He has an M.A. in Central Asian Studies from American University of Central Asia with a concentration in Anthropology. He also holds the Editor-in-Chief position of the Interstellar Bulletin, Star’s weekly magazine.

Goa, India – a patch on the forehead of the ocean

مجتمع آموزشى ستاره با بيش از 15 سال تجربه آموزشى

ديپارتمنت زبان روسى را آغاز مى كند

عالقه مندان مى توانند جهت ثبت نام و يا معلومات بيشتر به آدرس ذيل مراجعه نمايند.ايستگاه سابقه، مركز آموزشى ستاره.

با بيش از 15 سال تجربه آموزشى

آدرس: دهبورى، ايستگاه سابقه، مركز آموزشى ستاره. تليفون: 0789150988 / 0744563755عالقه مندان مى توانند جهت معلومات بيشتر به آدرس ذيل مراجعه نمايند.

فرصت ديگر براى عالقه مندان زبان هاى خارجىديپارتمنت زبان چينى به زودى آغاز مى شود

كورس هاى فشرده آمادگى امتحان HSK نيز براى عالقه مندان برگزار مى شود

Afghan Journalists Safety Committee, organized a conference in which Aid Organizations were asked to help the affected Media and journalists in Kunduz.

Najib Sharifi, the head of organization said that 16 local Media and tens of journalists were affected during Kunduz war and they need help.

Head of Afghan Journalist Safety Committee has said that the houses of journalists were ruined and in some cases they were turned into Taliban bunkers and needed more help.

Mr. Sharifi said that recently only two Media, Radio Kunduz and National Television had begun their broadcasting in Kunduz and other Media which were affected by war are not broadcasting.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sabiri, Chief of private televisions in Kunduz thanking

Rafa Benitez after their win against Espanyol in a press conference felt much chuffed illustrating his team specially Cristiano Ronaldo. This week Real Madrid experienced a very victorious wining against Espanyol, by exploding the ground of Espanyol with 5 goals of Ronaldo and 1 goal of Benzema 6-0. In addition, Cristiano Ronaldo could reach to 230 goals in this Laliga which is not only a very outstanding achievement for him but also a huge attainment in history of Real Madrid. Bentes said: “After this huge victory I like to exemplify the hardworking of our team and concede the goals of Ronaldo. We were the best and incomparable and no doubt, Real Madrid will win. I had told in my introduction speech that My Real Madrid is going to be a striking team and we will continue to balance between our attacking and

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul announced about establishment of a database for geographical information system (GIS) to map and satellite the cultural heritage, in order to help preserve Afghanistan’s cultural heritage.

According to this announcement; “The project is initiated by the U.S. Embassy sponsor with the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and the Afghanistan Institute of Archaeology.”

The U.S Embassy said that by the establishment of this database, Afghanistan can produce

Ministry of defense announced that as a result of Afghan national army operations, on Sunday, October 25, 2015, 197 insurgents were killed.

“The operations were launched in Archin districts of Nangarhar, Sorobi

operations, Afghan National Army have received weapons and ammunitions, furthermore tens of different type of mines have been defused.

M e a n w h i l e , Ministry of Defense reported that nineteen Afghan soldiers were killed by insurgents’ artilleries and roadside mine blasts.

Yesterday at 5:00 PM tens of Taliban insurgents attacked Ghoryan District located in 50 km of Herat City. Taliban entered the city center for a few minutes and affected one of the police check points located near a school. Taliban attacks over the center of this district where there is a border between Iran for tens of kilometers is not long ago. On the other hand, entrance of Taliban for a few minutes in the district center was unprecedented.

Abdul Majib Rozi, Herat Police Commander, went to this district to fight against Taliban. And military command in west of Afghanistan announced to send Air force and commandos in this

Afghan Journalists Safety Committee for their assistance said, “Beginning our broadcasting we require broadcasting equipment for replacing the burnt and lost equipment and as well security is our first concern.”

Displaced journalists, are still in doubt about the security situation in this province and are afraid to get back to work. And as well they are facing a tough life in Kabul.

In addition, Journalists Safety Committee President said that Afghan Journalists have witnessed the most concerning threats for the last few days in one and half a decade. He said that 31 violence cases against journalists have been recorded which included one murder and seven injuries. He added that other cases included threatening and beating of journalists.

defending lines. We scored 11 goals but we have not let the other teams to get any score. We should also express our gratitude to Nawos who defended our goal very perfectly and did not let the other team to open our goal. Espanyol was not a weak team and they did not perform bad and used the opportunities very well.” Rafa Benitezs added that

“Numbers speak for themselves. Ronaldo has a historical place in today’s world and I hope that he continues scoring goals for both our team and his benefit. He could have scored even more today!”

a satellite-based map database of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage sites. Added, the database will be the first of its kind in the Middle East and Central Asia, and will allow the Afghan government to map all archaeological heritage sites in the country, document the current state of site preservation, monitor looting, and serve as a planning tool to incorporate heritage protection into mining and other economic development projects.

The U.S. Embassy added that this project will be funded by America, amount of 6.5 million dollars.

district of Kabul, Giro Andar district of Ghazni, Anjil and Shindend district of Herat, Bakwa and Poshtrood district of Farah, Qarqin district of Jawzjan, and Sangin, Kajaki, Khanishin, Musa Qala, Lashkargah and Nadali districts of Helmand province. As 197 insurgents have been killed, the same time, 70 injured and 16 were arrested.” the Ministry of defense said. And, Omar a Taliban commander was among the deaths.

Ministry of defense said: during the

district.The civilians said that Taliban

retreated from the center of the district after their attack on the Police Headquarters of this district.

Before writing this report, according to reports from police and civilians still there is conflict near the center of this district.

This district was always regarded as one of the peaceful districts of Herat. The civilians said that from days there have been reports of armed insurgents attacks on this district.

Ghoryan, being near the center of Herat city, is included as an important District of this province.

Afghan Journalists Safety Committee: Media and Journalists need more help

Real Madrid to be even better: Rafa Benitez

Mapping the areas of cultural heritage

Around two hundred insurgents and nineteen Afghan soldiers killed in military operations

Taliban heavy attacks on Ghoryan District Herat

November 07th, 2015

Translated by: Mohammad AsifSource: Hasht-e-Sobh 2238

Translated by: Ahmad Fahim NaweedSource: Etilaatroz

Translated by: Parisa AhmadiSource: Hasht-e-Subh Daily

Translated by: Zahra AmiriSource: Hasht-e-Subh Daily

Translated by: Ahmad MuradiSource: Hasht-e-Sobh 2238

Vol.1, No. 14 News

In 1997, China established and implemented the one-child policy and the Chinese government is now dropping this policy and allows families to have two children. The policy of one child is officially rejected according to a report carried by Shin Hua News Agency.

During the recent 36 years, each couple could only have one child and any couple that

The Afghanistan MMA champion, Baz Mohammad Mubariz secured the first position to himself in the latest ranking list announced by international commission of ISB in Russia. 450 athletes from 49 countries had attended this commission and Mubariz achieved the first

On Monday, the foreign ministers of USA, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran gathered in Vienna, capital city of Austria to detect a solution to Syria crisis. These countries that have the most power to resolve the Syria crisis, have held many conferences, but it is the first time that Iran, an ally of President Bashar al-Assad, attends to such a summit alongside the US. The Foreign ministers had various positions.

According to BBC, United States of America’s position is that Bashar ul-Asad should resign before transitional period. Saudi Arabia also said Bashar ul-Asad should resign with specific schedule and before the establishment of

ignored the policy had faced penalties like fines and the loss of employment or forced abortions. After nine months, the Chinese kids and youths can see their only siblings while they have never seen a sibling.

The policy was established to reduce the enormous population of China but recently, worries about reduction in number of working-class and increase in number of elders made the government reject the policy. The government credits the one-child policy with preventing 400 million births.

position by gaining 7516 votes. This competition was held two weeks ago. Below Baz Mohammad Mubariz, his opponent from Russia stood in second position by 6990 votes and an athlete from Bulgaria gained the third position by 5381 votes. Mubariz stated he is proud of this achievement. “Gaining the membership of this commission was very important and crucial for further achievements,” Mubariz told the reporters. Mubariz has recorded five wins and three defeats in professional competitions in addition to nine wins and only one defeats in amateur competitions. He has four gold medals and two golden belts.

Following insecurity increase in Faryaab Province and Ghormach District fall in the hands of Taliban insurgents, General Abdul Rashid Dostoum, First Vice-President once again went to Faryab Province.

General Dostoum went to the Northern Provinces especially in Faryaab in order to lead the war. He was commanding the war against terrorist in this province.

With the increase of insecurity, Dostoum once again went to Faryaab Province.

Sediq Sediqi MoIA Spokesperson said that ANA would be elevated with the presence of General Dostoum. Mr. Sediqi on Tuesday 28th Mezaan in his speech in a press conference said, “The vice-president has begun his journey and he aims to go to Faryaab Province. He is going to cooperate and lead mobilization of people in order to suppress the enemies. Visit of General Dostoum, would be the reason for ANA and the people to stand against enemies with higher spirit.”

Ghormach District fell in the hands of Taliban insurgents on Mezaan 6th. MoIA said that additional troops have been sent to gain control over that district and soon that district would be out of Taliban’s control.

MoIA spokesperson said, “As we have promised this district will be cleaned from Taliban insurgents and the enemies will be defeated. By tomorrow or day after tomorrow we are going to discuss about the details.”

Sediq Sediqi stated that still there was not any data from the 18 policemen and the MoIA was trying to gain data about these policemen. The spokesperson emphasized that there was no exact number of how many security forces were killed in Ghormach.

Meanwhile, Gul Ahmad Rasooly Faryaab Senetor said that as a result of Taliban attack on this district 40 security forces were killed and 40 others were taken hostage by the Taliban insurgents. A day before as he was talking in Senate added that among the hostages there was Ghormach Police Commander.

Sediq Sediqi as well added that additional troops were sent to Gulran and Shindand Districts in Herat and threats would be resolved in these two districts soon.

another government. Turkey also said Bashar ul-Asad should resign, although he can maintain for six months. Persian Gulf states and their Western supporters which oppose Syrian government said that President Asad must step down, he cannot be part of the political processes in Syria. Russia and Iran believe president Asad should not be pressured to step down. The Syrian residents should decide their future.

Meanwhile, many news agencies reported during the Vienna conference, Iran supported the six-month transitional period plan that will decide the Syrian president fate by election, but Iranian media reports that Hossain Amir Abdul Lahian said Iran denied the agreement about the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

This conference and other international negotiations aims to end the civil war in Syria. Russia and Iran are supporting the Assad government while many other countries have called Asad to step down, and once even accused him of war crimes.

After 36 Years, Chinese couples can have two children

Ghormach fall, Dostoum once again in Faryab

Baz Mohammad Mubariz secures first position in MMA international ranking

Syria crisis resolve conference held in Vienna with the presence of Iran

November 07th, 2015

Translated by: Jumakhan Rahyab Source: Etilaatrooz – 940 Translated by: Alam Gul Farhad

Source: Hasht-e-Sobh 2238

Translated by: Zahra WahidiSource: 1 TV MEDIA

Source: Etilaatrooz – 940Translator: Walid Rahmani

Vol.1, No. 14News

November 07th, 2015

Vol.1, No. 14 Star-Related

The person in charge of the Afghan Research and Social Studies Institute, said: “Research on eliminating grounds for political violence in Afghanistan, and on preventing nation-wide programs from reaching a deadlock with detailed assessment and analysis, has yet to be done; the Afghan Research and Social Studies Institute is established to fill the very gap."

On the day of launching this Institute, the seminar on “Role of Research on Transition from Conflict to Peace” was held on Monday at the Kabul Serena Hotel. Speakers addressed on the researches that have been conducted about violence, the nature and type of conflict in Afghanistan and the role of women in conflict management.

Dawood Naji, president and founder of the Institute, said in an interview with Euronews: “Over the past few years, millions of dollars of aids from the International community has been spent on counter-narcotics campaigns, eliminating violence against women, but all these programs have been ineffective and that they lacked proper assessment and research. So, this institute aims to foster the culture of reading and

institutionalizes research in Afghanistan, and conflict and peace studies are at the top priority of this institute.”

Wasting millions of dollars of aids have been one of the challenges in Afghanistan in one and a half recent decades. The people in charge of this research institute believes that by applied and practical approach research, based on the needs of the community, we can help to prevent wasting of the aids before a nation-wide program is implemented.

The number of researchers is not proportionate with the needs of Afghan society

Dr. Faramarz Tamana, director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Euronews: “The establishment of peace studies institute, is a need of Afghanistan; because, Afghanistan is a post-conflict country and we need to find the way to reach to peace. But, the number of researchers is not proportionate with needs of Afghanistan. As the foreign troops are leaving, the country and the road and some basic infrastructure will get again destroyed; but, if we could train professional human resources, we would not face and

Beloved’s narrative frequently moves between past and present and through the memories of its characters. Although Sethe likes to forget her past, but the influences by the ghost constantly interfere into the present. The power of this past is embodied in the ghost of Seth’s baby that was killed by Sethe herself. The dead baby won’t abandon the family, and its presence is written even into the number of the house:”24” draws attention to the missing “3,” the third child that manifests itself into their home regularly.

The horrifying and terrible effects of slavery on the family unit are clear. Baby Suggs seems hardly able to feel love for her relations, deprived from loved ones being taken from her for a lifelong. Paul D, including many men in her life are wanderers, moving from place to place. After many years, Sethe is the first generation of blacks that could bear children without those children being taken away from her. But her life is filled with the memories of slavery and haunted by her dead baby.

Who is Denver? Denver is a troubled, friendless, and lonely girl that needs company but also cautious of the male intruder from Sethe’s past. Sethe seems to

suffer all these current problems.”Mr. Tamana added on this seminar:

“In Afghanistan, 13 research papers are conducted per one million people, while the number of these research papers are very low; notwithstanding, these numbers cannot solve the problems of Afghanistan. And, we must conduct applied and practical researches rather than researches best on more content analyses.”

Academic attention to the role of women in the Afghan conflict management

Humira Saqib, civil society activist, in this seminar, criticized the government's actions about the role of women in the management of conflicts such as the war in Kunduz: “The rape of women in Kunduz was the most shocking news of the war in the province, but unfortunately the rape is still a taboo in Afghanistan and has been rejected repeatedly in Kunduz clash. The fact-finding commission which was assigned by the president to investigate on the Kunduz event, did not include a single woman appointed as its member, which

be a very determined woman who escapes slavery while pregnant and she is frequently described as having eyes of iron. She is devoted to her children: in telling the story of her tree-scar to Paul D, she emphasizes the theft of her milk. The passage suggests she was likely raped, but the loss of her milk is the part of the repeating passages of the story by Sethe.

The tree on Sehte’s back suggests the need to aestheticize or beautify her painful experiences. Real trees are referred to at several points as a source of protection, pleasure-when Sethe remembers Sweet Home, and she always remembers a very beautiful home. The use of imagery, her scars from pain and humiliation become a tree in bloom, a source of life, protection and comfort. By using the power of words, it is an attempt to make sense of a scar and pain.

Who is Beloved? Beloved is the ghost of Sethe’s murdered child, returned for nuclear reasons, embodied as a full grown women at the age of a baby. Sethe, an escaped woman faced recapture, planned to kill her children rather than allowing them to be taken back into slavery. Beloved also presents a powerful account of the foundation of black America. The novel

represents the national unity government lack of attention to women.”

She added, "Today, women in most social life areas have been forgotten; including in conflict management and peace talks in Afghanistan, and until the women’s issue is not studied scientifically and in an academic approach, peace and conflict problems will not be solved or reach to a fruitful culmination in Afghanistan.”

Socio-political studies, in Afghanistan had been a challenging issue and in some cases caused conflicts and problems, e.g. Ethnographic Atlas of non-Pashtun ethnic groups published by a researcher at the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan, triggered with wide mass protests for the case of containing some issues insulting other ethnic groups; as a result four researchers were expelled by the ex-president of Afghanistan. But, the people here in the Afghan Research and Social Studies Institute say that one of the top priorities of this institute is to study the very origin and reason of the conflicts at core and to find peaceful solutions in the country.

describes what it means to be owned by others and the difficulty of owning oneself.

In Beloved, Morrison explores themes of love, family, and self-possession, determination in a world where slavery has only recently become a thing of the past. Part history, part ghost story, part historical fiction, the novel also seek to understand the impact of slavery, both on the psychology of individuals and on the larger patterns of culture and history.

Afghan Research and Social Studies Institute launched

Beloved, Toni Morrison

About the author: Maryam Shahi is currently a Euro-News Reporter. She studies International Relations in Ibn-e-Sina University. Previously, She was the head of Negah TV News Agency. She served as one of BBC news supervisors. During the 2014 presidential election campaign, she was also the head of Kabul Post News Agency. Her Bachelors was from Payame Noor University in Mash’had where her concentration was on social research.

About the author: Zainab Yusofi is a Star alumna and a former teacher of Star in Kabul. She has been the manager of B branch from 2006 to 2009. She was also a popular instructor both in A and B branches. She attended her high school through Youth Exchange & Study (YES) program in Wenatchee High School, WA U.S. She received her Associates of Arts degree from Wenatchee Valley College. She was constantly on Dean's List and graduated with High Honors with the college of Saint Elizabeth. Zainab sees her future in business and politics

Dawood Naji, president and founder of the Afghan Research and Social Studies

November 07th, 2015

W e lived isolated lives high in the valleys. We were strangers to the changes in the world, or rather they were stranger to us.

By the time I first got to watch TV, I had already raised many children. Let alone televisions, many of us had barely seen a vehicle or an airplane.

Your late aunty from Hotqol visited Kabul. One morning her hosts turned on their pocket radio to listen to the news. Upon hearing a male voice, your auntie covered her face to dopurdah. She noticed that the women of the host family did not cover their faces, did not observe purdah. She was old, and she immediately scolded them:

“You have no shame! There are strange men there, and you dare let them see your faces!”

When I visited Kabul, we would gather at Aatay Hafiz’s basement at night to watch TV in secret. He owned a small television set that was easy to hide and put away during the day. Your maternal grandfather was

a strict man. He disapproved of television, and called it Haram. We made sure he didn’t find out we all watched TV.

It is said that in the Pas-Qad valleys, when the women first saw a car, they assumed it was a type of animal they had never seen before. They called it pesh-ghorghoor-e-pas-khaagbad – literally translated as the thing that ‘makes noise at the front, and blows dust at the back’. Some women even threw grass in front of the car, assuming that if it was an animal, it had to eat grass.

That’s how strange these machines were for our people. Things have changed now. Nothing can surprise me anymore.

*Purdah = a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim communities; the practice of females covering their faces in the presence of a non-family male*Haram = Arabic term meaning sinful; Items and

practices forbidden in Islamic belief*Pas-Qad = Backward; A derogatory term used to refer to those living deep in the mountains

While free from Force the Press remains, Virtue and Freedom chear our Plains, And Learning Largesses bestows, And keeps unlicens'd open House. We to the Nation's publick Mart Our Works of Wit, and Schemes of Art, And philosophic Goods, this Way, Like Water carriage, cheap convey. This Tree which Knowledge so affords, Inquisitors with flaming swords From Lay-Approach with Zeal defend, Lest their own Paradise should end. The Press from her fecundous Womb Brought forth the Arts of Greece and Rome; Her offspring, skill'd in Logic War, Truth's Banner wav'd in open Air; The Monster Superstition fled, And hid in Shades in Gorgon Head; And awless Pow'r, the long kept Field, By Reason quell'd, was forc'd to yield. This Nurse of Arts, and Freedom's Fence, To chain, is Treason against Sense: And Liberty, thy thousand Tongues None silence who design no Wrongs; For those who use the Gag's Restraint, First Rob, before they stop Complaint.

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. He was a philosopher, scientist, inventor, musician, statesman and economist, among other things. He moved to liberal Philadelphia in his twenties and started writing poetry, although he never considered himself to be a poet. Franklin was an important statesman, signing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, as well as negotiating treaties with other countries. He died in Philadelphia in 1790, and thousands of mourners turned out for his funeral.

Despite his success at the Boston Latin School, Ben was removed at 10 to work with his father at candle making, but dipping wax and cutting wicks didn’t fire his imagination. Perhaps to dissuade him from going to sea as one of his brothers had done, Josiah apprenticed Ben at 12 to his brother James at his print shop. Ben took to this like a duck to water, despite his brother’s hard treatment. When James refused to publish any of his brother’s writing, Ben adopted the pseudonym Mrs. Silence Dogood, and “her” 14 imaginative and witty letters were published in his brother’s newspaper, The New England Courant, to the delight of the readership. But James was angry when it was discovered the letters were his brother’s, and Ben abandoned his apprenticeship shortly afterward, escaping to New York, but settling in Philadelphia, which was his home base for the rest of his life.

Franklin furthered his education in the printing trade in Philadelphia, lodging at the home of John Read in 1723, where he met and courted Read’s daughter Deborah. Nevertheless, the following year, Franklin left for London under the auspices of Pennsylvania Governor William Keith, but felt duped when letters of introduction never arrived and he was forced to find work at print shops there. Once employed, though, he was able to take full advantage of the city’s pleasures, attending theater, mingling with the populace in coffee houses and continuing his lifelong passion for reading. He also managed to publish his first pamphlet, "A Dissertation upon Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain."

Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726 to find that Deborah Read had married. In the next few years he held varied jobs such as bookkeeper, shopkeeper and currency cutter. He also fathered a son, William, out of wedlock during this time. In late 1727, Franklin formed the “Junto,” a social and self-improvement study group for young men, and early the next year was able to establish his own print shop with a partner.

StoriesMy Grandmother

Told Me

22

Vol.1, No. 14LiteraryAbout the author:

Hadi Zaher was the first graduate of Star Educational Society in the year 1999. He is the nephew of the founder of Star in Quetta, Mr. Nabi Atiq. Hadi was both first position holder and also one of the first Star graduates who, together with Mr. Hussain Yousofi, was selected as a language teacher. Hadi Zaher has an MA from the University of Wollongong in Australia and is currently a post-graduate student at the University of New South Wales. He is the president of Zaheristan, a virtual world of professional photography that he describes in these words: “A land of good people, a free people. A land where flowers bloom in streets, rubab music plays in the samovar tea houses, and kites fly in the skies.”

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin FranklinJanuary 17, 1706 - April 17, 1790

Of The Press

OnTheFreedom

Saturday, November 07, 2015 Vol. 1, No. 14Interview

Editor-in-Chief: Ali Reza Yasa, ChairmanEditor: Murtaza QasemiDesigner: Musa Autbin

Phone: +93-785 10 39 20 +93-744 56 37 55Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.star.edu.af

About the interviewer: Rasool Ahmadi is a senior student of French Literature at Kabul University. He joined Star as a student in 2009 and he has been teaching at SES for the past 5 years. He has also been working as a translator. He together with some of his classfellows have translated a novel of Victor Hugo, 'Le dernier jour d'un condamné' from French to Dari, published by IFA.

Game”, with two of my friends Shefayee and Sadiq Baqiri (I also had the respon-sibility of editing). About your question, about taking any professional translation course, I should say, yes. When I was doing my M.A., a special translation course was offered by the University and I could get a seat there after taking an entrance exam; the course took one and a half year – eighteen credits. The lecturers were mostly expert and professional in grammar and transla-tion, and I learned a lot from this course.

After translating Ahmad Rashid's book, have you translated anything else? Later on, in the same University that I got my masters, there in the center of research and translation, I translated a book by the name of “Introduction to Philosophy of Law” which was published in 2003. When it was published, I was in Afghanistan and was working in the newly established University of Bamiyan. And, when I returned to Iran in 2004, they told me that my book had been selected as the “second-best” transla-tion and won awards in the “6th Ferdowsi Festival”. It was a serious work in the field of philosophy.

Why did you translate the book of “De-scent Into Chaos,” a book written by Ahmed Rashid? The book was translated in Kabul and had two reasons. First, my interest in translation, and second, a pub-lisher company wanted to translate this book and was not so satisfied of the per-son who was assigned previously. In fact, it was a project to translate the book. And, “Shah M Book Co” contacted me and in-sisted to translate this book. I confirmed and accepted their request on the phone, then we spoke through details closely. Be-cause, this book is explaining the event of seven or eight years of Afghanistan after the Bonn conference chronologically, was an interesting work for my own self also. The book includes events up to 2008, and mostly concentrated on the gradual growth of insurgency again in Afghanistan and Central Asia. It was interesting and I agreed to translate the book. It took me seven or

Would you please introduce yourself briefly, Sir? I am Hassan Rezaee. I have an MA in philosophy and a BA in sociol-ogy from Ferdowsi University, Mashhad. I know Arabic and have translated a few books and articles from English to Dari.

How did you learn English? Through self-study or academic courses? Well, during my adolescence, I took some aca-demic courses from which I have always aimed to become a good translator.

How did you become a literature expert? I am not literature expert, but I am inter-ested in literature. It is perhaps something personal, or an intrinsic interest. Since school days, I remember that literature subjects have always been so easy and there-fore, I didn’t study those so seriously—but to my concentration, I always scored high in those subjects. Apparently, I am an in-born literature freak. I enjoy reading classic texts, and am keenly interested in poetry.

Are you a poet? No, I am not a poet. I have no poems.

Since when have you been interested in translation? What is the source of your motivation? I did my MA in Iran where I came to know that Iranians have accom-plished much in this regard. They have translated and localized a great volume of academic literature. Since then, I have been determined to follow the same path in Afghanistan. Authoring and compiling academic literature needs some scholarly advancement in a country. But here is one good thing about translation: in the trans-lation process, both the scholarly literature will be made available to the natives of the target language and the very process will help the target language to be intensified and developed.

Have you taken any professional courses on translation? Let me add something to the answer of your previous question. My first serious work on translation was the translation of “Taliban, Oil and the Great

eight months, time to translate this book which was supposed to be done earlier, but my responsibility in the University caused it to be delayed.

How was the book received by the audi-ence/readers? Of course, despite the high price, I guess all the first copies might have been sold by now.

What is your idea about the importance of translation in the future in Afghani-stan, especially, in academic and research sector? We can talk about translation from two points of view. First, translation is a means of exchange of knowledge and ex-periences among nations. And, undoubt-edly, if we want to indigenize or localize the knowledge in Afghanistan, there is no way but to take the translation seriously, because we cannot walk the same way the developed countries experienced before. We must translate to make our people and scientists aware of the gains and experi-ences of the other nations through their na-tive language. And, the second issue which somehow affects indirectly, is the effect and impacts of translation on the literature of a country and is a help to the language and the literature of knowledge in a broader cul-tural context. The more we translate from other languages, the more we can help the development of literature and the written language of our country. From this point of view, translation is very important. And one more thing that the translator is forced to give a second-thought to him/herself and contemplate. Perhaps as much as we contemplate during translation, we may not think that much in our own language. For instance, when we want to write in our own language, we use and write by the help of the vocabulary and what we have in our mind. But, in the translation we face vocabulary and terms that make us think, refer to a dictionary or may ask someone else and have to think and contemplate and select a word after in-depth tedious think-ing. Translating is like refinement and pu-rification, when we translate we choose the words carefully and even skeptically, finally after a deep review and thinking, we choose the most appropriate words and terms and

it is somehow a purification or pruning pro-cess. Consequently, we can help the devel-opment of literature of the second language – target language.

Right now, how is the situation of trans-lation in Afghanistan, in your idea? Trans-lation in Afghanistan is so poor compared to other countries such as Iran, Turkey, Egypt and India, even Pakistan. However, I do not know much about India and Pakistan, be-cause I am not so acquainted with their lan-guage background, but the statistics about translation in Egypt, Turkey and Iran is very high. Statistics in Turkey is even higher than Iran. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan transla-tions are not taken too serious and has not been worked on. I hope in the future, those who are concerned in this area, interested and think on it, work more seriously on translation, and through this we could have access to other nations’ resources and knowl-edge, and indigenize them. Many people do not have access to foreign languages, so to localize this knowledge and experiences is necessary. I hope that the officials, especially the Ministry of Information and Culture to takes this issue seriously.

Statistics show a very low rate of transla-tion, is the main reason for this lack of professional translators or lack of curi-ous reader? Well, both. 70 percent of our people are illiterate, so I can say that we are facing even a crisis of readers – the statistics of study/reading is tremendously low. And also there are not enough numbers of trans-lators or they are not qualified and profes-sional ones; the countries that I mentioned earlier, 70 percent are literate. And third, is financial problems about translation, the economic situation is also very important. A translator must make a living, and his/her translations should be published and should be supported economically to encourage him/her to continue this work, otherwise, there will not be any progress in this sec-tor. These three issues, crisis or readers/au-dience, lack of professional translators and economic problems are, consequently shap-ing a triangle of challenges in translation in Afghanistan.

On the Significance of

TranslationAn interview with Ustaad Hassan Rezayee

Hassan Rezayee is a former President of Gharjistan University and Vice-President of Kateb University. He is famous for his academic translation and matchless command of classic Persian Literature. He has translated numerous books and articles from English to modern Persian - Dari. He has also been a lecturer, speaker and is famous for his many appearances on various television programs.

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