DEPLETED URANIUM

A call for support to investigate the danger of nuclear debris in Afghanistan

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Depleted Uranium

ROW OVER ANTHEM

http://www.iwpr.net/   2002/06/11

Controversy over the Afghan national anthem reflects Loya Jirga tensions.

By Danesh Kerokhel in Kabul.

Afghanistan's sense of national unity is so fragile that even the playing
of the national anthem at the opening ceremony of the Loya Jirga has
caused some controversy among delegates.

After Ismael Qassimyar began the proceedings and Barakatullah Saleem
recited from the Quran, ex-king Zahir Shah was due to give the first
address. While delegates waited, the national anthem of Afghanistan under
president Burhanuddin Rabbani was played.

Aryan Yoon, a representative of Laghman, protested that the state song
from the time of Daud Khan, president in the 1970s, would have been a
better choice. The latter is in Pashto while that from the Rabbani period
is in Dari.

Other delegates said that according to the Bonn agreement, the 1963
constitution from the period of Zahir Shah should be widely applied, but
there was no proper national anthem in the time of the former monarch.

Ismael Qasimyar, chair of the commission which convened the Loya Jirga,
agreed with the complaints, saying the version played at the opening of
the gathering had just been a filler because the ex-king was late.

But the Rabbani-era anthem, which has no formal name, was not entirely
without defenders. Ustad Sayaf, leader of the Itehad-e-Islami party, said,
"It has the words of 'Allahu Akbar' - the nation rallied under those words
and made sacrifices."

Allahu Akbar (God is Great in Arabic) is the traditional war cry of
Muslims going into battle.

Last month, Hafiz Mansoor, chairman of Kabul radio and TV, said of the
delicate anthem question, "We don't have national unity. If we did, we
would have a national song and our national heroes wouldn't have been
neglected".

Danesh Kerokhil is an IWPR trainee journalist.
 
 

BBC launches Pashto.com

http://www.dawn.com/2002/06/08/nat15.htm

PESHAWAR, June 7: The BBC World Service has launched an internet site in
Pushto for Pushto speakers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the diaspora.

The new site, which employs a specially commissioned Pushto script, has been
warmly greeted by the leader of Afghanistan's interim government, Hamid
Karzai, a press released issued by the BBC Pushto service said.

"Afghans listen to BBC Pushto Service with great keenness. They get news
about their country and the world from various BBC World Service programmes.
BBC Pushto Service has many listeners, Afghans trust their news and
appreciate BBC World Service for its journalism. I hope BBC Pushto Service
will introduce positive aspects of internet technology to the Afghans," it
quoted Hamid Karzai as saying.

Few sites worldwide use the Pushto script. At present, BBC Pashto.com offers
text and audio from BBC Pushto's three daily news and current affairs
programmes. http://www.bbcpashto.com

There is a special page about how the Loya Jirga - the Grand Assembly
Afghans have traditionally used to solve political crises - will convene in
Afghanistan in June plus music and concerts from some of the country's
favourite musicians and singers.

BBC World Service has the largest audience of any international or local
broadcaster in Afghanistan. As well as news and current affairs, BBC World
Service broadcasts the popular soap drama, New Home, New Life, and
children's programmes in Pushto and Persian.

Pushto broadcasts are heard by Pushto speakers in Afghanistan, Pakistan and
India and by Afghan refugees scattered in Iran, the USA, Australia, Canada
and Europe by 23 years of war.

Earlier this year, BBC World Service Trust began work in the Afghan capital,
Kabul, to strengthen the local media. The Trust project involves training
Afghan journalists, the supply and installation of radio equipment for Radio
Afghanistan and building a media resource centre for local journalists. BBC
World Service staff are also advising the Afghan Interim Authority on a
regulatory media framework.
Best regards,
Mukhtar A. Khan
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Sustainable Development Networking Programme, www.sdnpk.org