This is Afghanistan, NOT America

Rukhma, who does not know her age but looks younger than 20; was trafficked across the border from Pakistan to Afghanistan with her three-year-old son. In Pakistan, Rukhma was married to an abusive man who fathered her son, Bilal. Rukhma divorced her husband and married another Pakistani man by whom she became pregnant last year. Then she was kidnapped by a neighbor and taken to Afghanistan where she was raped by an Afghan man for three months. One day she overheard the Afghan finalizing a deal to sell Rukhma to another man who wanted her but not her son. Scared of losing her son, Rukhma ran away one day from the house. Unfortunately, Rukhma was soon discovered by the Afghan, who not only mercilessly beat her but also murdered her son in front of her eyes. When the Afghan police arrived, they arrested the Afghan murderer and rapist as well as Rukhma. Although her tormentor received a 20-years jail term, Rukhma was also imprisoned on charges of adultery for four years.
Blaming the victim common 
Yet except for a small urban elite, a woman fleeing domestic violence or accusing a man of rape herself often ends up the guilty party in the eyes of judges and prosecutors."Why am I here? I'm innocent," Rukhma said, crying in a musty jail cell and cradling a baby daughter by her previous marriage whom she bore in prison. "It is cruel to have your son killed before your eyes and then to be imprisoned."
In parts of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, where stern social codes prevail, a woman who runs away from home is typically suspected of having taken a lover and can be prosecuted for adultery. Simply leaving her house without her family's permission may be deemed an offense — as in Rukhma's case — although it is not classified as such under Afghanistan's penal code.
The chief prosecutor of eastern Nangarhar province who oversaw Rukhma's case suggested she got off lightly.
"If my wife goes to the bazaar without my permission, I will kill her. This is our culture," Abdul Qayum shouted scornfully during an interview in his office in the city of Jalalabad.
His colleagues laughed approvingly. "This is Afghanistan, not America," Qayum said.
Rukhma’s case is not a stray incidence but the social condition of the women in Afghanistan, which has not changed even after the US led NATO invaded the country overthrowing the Taliban regime. Under the new Afghan constitution, women have the right to education, can get a job and are to be always protected by the law, but in reality, women especially in rural Afghanistan are as vulnerable as before. Violence against women has in fact risen in the last one year. According to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, there were 2,374 reported cases of violence against women in 2007 while the figure in 2006 was 1,651. In 70 to 80 percent of these cases often the woman is charged of criminal activities for running away from the home and committing adultery. In incidences of rape, where it is very difficult to prove the allegations, the victim is accused of adultery and thrown into the jail.

Reference: msnbc

Discovery of Budda in Kabul

This is the incompleted sculpture of Budda which was discovered in south of Kabul in Shada-i- Salihin hill by Ministry of information and culture. This is the famous hill where five years ago a budda temple with twenty eight historical pieces of Buda belonging were found.
They are 15century old and one meter high.

'I don't want to go home'

The Qambar Square camp in Kabul’s west is now home to more than 1,200 families from across Afghanistan. Bibi Hawa lost her husband, daughter and son to war. She now lives with her three grandchildren in a tent at a refugee camp in Kabul.
The old woman cries as she says, “I fled from Marjah in Helmand province because of the fighting. I don’t want to go home any more. I lost my family there and I don’t believe the war will end in our province.”
She is dressed in old clothes and wrapped in an old blanket. As we talk she frequently asks for money.
“My son and my husband fed us before they were killed,” she says. “Now I ask people to give me some bread just to survive”.

Wakil Ahmad Tawoos lives at the camp and is a tribal elder. “The camp was established more than year ago,” he says. “There are more than 800 families here who fled Helmand province.”
As you walk through the camp, you are quickly surrounded by people begging for help. They are refugees in their own country. Some have lost limbs. Some have lost family members.

The children are hungry, but some of them study. There is a school here. It is a tent with no tables or chairs. It is hot in summer and muddy in winter. When class ends the students have to carry water to their homes from a nearby pump.
“Young boys can’t get jobs and are spending long days and nights under tents,” says Tawoos. “They have to wait for rich people to bring them food or money.
“We were all farmers who made money growing opium. Now there are no more jobs for us in Helmand because the government has banned poppy farming.”
The Afghan government says it “encourages” the refugees to return to their homes. It is planning to provide transportation in the future.
Reference: CNN News

Life after Taliban Regime

Government 

After collapse of Taliban regime, Afghanistan first democratic presidential election took place in October 2004. Hamid Karzai has been elected as president of Afghanistan. Ten million Afghans, more than a third of the country, registered to vote, including more than 40% of eligible women. Karzai was declared the winner in November, taking 55% of the vote, and was inaugurated in December.  Second presidential elections were held on August 20, 2009. More than 30 candidates challenged incumbent Karzai, with Abdullah Abdullah as the most formidable contender. Karzai was declared the winner on Nov. 5 and began his second five-year term as president

Back to School
Afghanistan has the highest primary school enrollment in its history.  Since January 2003, almost 4 million children are back to school. The number is increasing. People are knocking education centers in every corner. Only in two districts of Afghanistan more than 1500 women and 1325 men participated in literacy courses. After Taliban regime, not only children but also adults returned to schools and education centers. People are welcoming “Back to school” programs because it not only educate people, but also provides an opportunity for adults to share their own solutions to the problems they face in the community.

Women in the Society
During Taliban regime, women had the worse time in Afghanistan history. They were forbidden to work and leave the house with out escort. Seeking medical treatment from a male doctor was out of question. They had to be covered from head to toe including eyes. The women who were doctors, teachers, and engineers were prison at their own houses; they either end up being beggars or prostituters to feed their families. But since fall of Taliban, the women situation has been improved considerably.

Women are now given equal rights as men in the country. They are no longer prison at their own houses. They are back to society and work. Government also does not force them to cover, or wear burqa. Most of women returned to government jobs like ministries and parliament. It looks like collapse of Taliban has given life to million dead bodies of afghan women. They are as busy as men on development side of the country. Today you can find women in every corner of the country engage with an activity. Some are back to universities, some are to militaries, some to parliament, some to airlines as stewards, and some are attending available courses to accelerate their language and driving skills.

Sports
Life and entertainment has returned to Afghanistan after Taliban regime. Population in the country is increasing. Most of young and energetic boys and girls are joining the world of sports. They are working hard to participate in Olympic Games through which they can battle for the country's honor and flog out as winners. It is a pleasure to be witness that Afghanistan hit the world of championship for cricket today and the credit defiantly should be given to all these energetic young generation.

Since aliban’s elimination; Afghanistan has tasted the joy of freedom and prosperity. It is functioning smoothly and people are excited with the alterations. Today Afghanistan again has a film and television industry. The museum is open and the old center is being rebuilt. Economic is boosting, money is changed, and freedom of media came back to life.  Developments and infrastructures are underway and population is increasing with returnees. Despite all these changes many challenges still remain. The recent suicide attacks in the country took the color of joys and happiness from people’s faces. People are trying to avoid crowded places and stay indoors as much as possible. But they believe the government and foreign troops are there to help and can’t wait to have a peaceful country soon back.

Three Categories of people in Afghanistan!

Higher Category: People of this category are the richest among all. They are holder of different positions in government or out of the country. Sky is the limit for them.  They are self-center, focus and don't think out of their lives' circles.  They are thirsty for success, earnings and self-benefits. Never satisfy with less.  Always want to be the winners and have the highest positions and the buildings in the society. They personally do not care about government, environment and people's benefit and requirements. They have no time for others, except their families.

Middle Category: People of this category are the middle earners. They are focus, doer and hungry for achievements. They are either engage with private businesses (shops, restaurants, hotels) or UNs and NGOs  or government lower positions. They live with the ideology that European or Western countries are heaven on the earth. It is clean, beautiful, loyal and easy. Government pays you, houses, electricity and water are free and buying a car is a matter of click.  They do whatever it takes to leave the county to make a living in one of these countries. They believe these countries are an automatic world like a PC with out any virus/error....

Lower Category: People of this category are the beggars. They beg on street for living. Do not have food, clean water, clothes and shelters. They always focus on how to find food to pass a day. Their lives are full of tensions. A tension for the morning to find breakfast, a tension for noon to find lunch and a tension for night to find a place to sleep, food to eat and clothes to cover- not to die. All they need is help, support and attention, but unfortunately, they don't get this.

In summary,  If  higher class people think of their pockets, middle class people think of leaving the country and lower class people think of their empty stomachs…then 

Who is really thinking about Afghanistan? Who is really thinking about its future, infrastructure and development? Who is the next generation of this country and who will make this country a better world for upcoming generation? 

Please state if you h ave the answers!