Nasim Fekrat
The World Through My Eyes
The deprived children who want a change
These children are coming from the most deprived background, from a Hazara ethnic group in Afghanistan, who once were socially rejected due to their faith and ethnicity. They have been an outcast of Afghanistan, and have been singled out as outsiders, heretics, and ugly because of their Asiatic looks. (more…)
Bakery in Kabul
This is a local bakery in Kabul suburb. In Farsi, the bakery is called “Nanwayee,” which means a place where bread is available.
Ashura, the tenth and the last day of Shia religious carnival
Ashura, the 10th of Muharram is a holy day for Muslims and especial day for Shi’a. This day is a remarkable day of Muharram in Islamic calendar, the day of mourning for the martyrdom of Hussian the son Ali and the grandson of Muhammad in the battle of Karbala in the year 61 (AD 680). (more…)
Moharram, a Shia bloody ritual
Self-flagellation and cutting heads with swords are a truly barbaric practice that once used to be famous in Iran under the Qajar Dynasty but later banned by the Shah in the 20th century.
Blades that bleed in the dawn of Ashura
These knife-covered chains are produced in Kabul and widely distributed among young Shiite Hazaras in major cities, especially the capital, Kabul. (more…)
Bathed in their blood for cleansing
Ashura, the 10th of Muharram is a holy day for Muslims and especial day for Shi’a. This day is a remarkable day of Muharram in Islamic calendar, the day of mourning for the martyrdom of Hussian the son Ali and the grandson of Muhammad in the battle of Karbala in the year 61 (AD 680). (more…)
Self-flagellation ritual
Ashura, the 10th of Muharram is a holy day for Muslims and especial day for Shi’a. This day is a remarkable day of Muharram in Islamic calendar, the day of mourning for the martyrdom of Hussian the son Ali and the grandson of Muhammad in the battle of Karbala in the year 61 (AD 680). (more…)
Mortification of the flesh for sanctifying the body
Ashura, the 10th of Muharram is a holy day for Muslims and especial day for Shi’a. This day is a remarkable day of Muharram in Islamic calendar, the day of mourning for the martyrdom of Hussian the son Ali and the grandson of Muhammad in the battle of Karbala in the year 61 (AD 680). (more…)
Muharram, the month of mourning for Shia Hazaras
Traditionally, it is Mullah’s job to recite the elegy of Imam Hussein who was killed 1300 years ago in battle of Karbala, but in this local mosque in Shiite community in west Kabul, a literate person took the job by delivering an elegy to the mourners.
The depiction of Imam Hussein in pictorial form
The depiction of Hussein in pictorial form has widely circulated in areas inhabited by Shiite Hazaras. In recent years this form of elegy has become a lucrative business for publishing company based in Iran. (more…)
Muharram arrives in Kabul
Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazaras are preparing for Muharram by erecting giant gates ornamented with black cloth and banners that are donated by Iran. (more…)
Afghanistan’s opium production peaks
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has released a report today that United States has spent approximately $7.6 billion on counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan. (more…)
Afghanistan’s drug addiction: a growing burden
Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer and cultivator of opium poppies; it produces almost three quarters of the world’s illicit opium. While a significant amount of the opium produced in Afghanistan is trafficked out of the country, in 2009 it was estimated that almost 10 per cent of Afghans aged between 15 and 64 were drug users. Read a full report on UN report.
Afghanistan’s drug addicts
As opium production increases despite billions spent to stop it, Afghanistan’s addicts are also on the rise. (more…)
Afghanistan inhaling its own smoke
A U.S. Department of State report in 2009 estimated there are two million drug users in the country with at least 50-60,000 drug addicts in Kabul alone. Curbing the cultivation of opium poppies, which are used to make heroin, is the goal of a U.S. program that has doled out $80 million (54 million euros) since 2007. (more…)
Afghanistan’s Fatal Injections
From 2005 to 2009, the use of opiates doubled, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, putting Afghanistan on par with Russia and Iran, and the number of heroin users jumped more than 140 percent. (more…)
Afghanistan: Drowning into the hell of heroin
It is no surprise to hear that a country which has often been entitled as the world’s largest opium producer, today, has it holds the highest number of addicts. Afghanistan is not only at the brink of a civil war as a result of its dysfunctional polity and its bellicose contenders who are not willing to compromise, but because of its increasingly opium cultivation and trade that might splinter the country into mini states. (more…)
Afghanistan deepening into tragedy of drug use
It is no surprise to hear that a country which has often been entitled as the world’s largest opium producer, today, has it holds the highest number of addicts. Afghanistan is not only at the brink of a civil war as a result of its dysfunctional polity and its bellicose contenders who are not willing to compromise, but because of its increasingly opium cultivation and trade that might splinter the country into mini states. (more…)
Afghanistan: A dangerous place for children to be born
Afghanistan has been through decades of conflict and it become of the most dangerous places in the world for children and their mothers to live. Here are some facts to know about Afghan children: One in seven Afghan children will not live to see their fifth birthday. Enrollment in primary education has vastly improved over the past 10 years, but still only 7 girls for every 10 boys are enrolled in primary education. (more…)