HERAT -- The deadly suicide bombing last week of the Kaaj Educational Centre in Kabul continues to spark outrage among Afghans.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives among hundreds of male and female students while they were taking a practice university entrance exam (Kankor) on September 30 in Kabul's Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood, home to the historically oppressed Shia Hazara community.
The number of deaths from the bombing has risen to 53 and could further increase, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced Monday (October 3).
No group claimed responsibility, although the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) has conducted similar attacks in the past.
More than 300 female students of Herat and Bamiyan universities took to the streets on October 2 to denounce the massacre.
Dozens of other students on October 3 also held a protest in Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh.
Terrorists want to stop Afghanistan's progress by killing students, said Asiya Bassam, a journalism student at Herat University who protested.
"We are raising our voices to stop genocide and to uphold the rights of girls to be able to go to schools and study in a safe environment," she said.
"No matter how much they kill us and blow up our schools, we will rise up again and fight these terrorists with education and knowledge."
"All of us -- Pashtun, Tajik and Hazara -- say in one voice that the blood of Pashtun, Tajik and Hazara is one," she added.
The perpetrators must be arrested and brought to justice, said Nargis Noori, a Bamiyan University student who also took part in the demonstrations.
"We condemn the attack on students in Kabul. This inhuman attack shows the extent of the brutality of these terrorists," she said.
"Terrorists think that they can stop the education and development of the Afghan youth by attacking schools and educational centres, but they will never see this hope of theirs realised," she added.
"More students have turned to education when terrorists have committed similar crimes in the past."
Terrorist groups must be stopped in Afghanistan to avoid further bloodshed and deaths of innocents, Noori said.
Hostility toward education and knowledge
Terrorist groups aim to attack schools and educational centres to block the advancement of education and knowledge in Afghanistan, said Safiullah Samimi, 21, a resident of Herat city.
"Terrorists do not want the new generation of Afghans to attain knowledge and progress," he said. "By committing suicide attacks on educational centres, they want to cause fear among the public and stop its children from studying."
"The only weapon available to Afghans against terrorists is knowledge."
Even if terrorists continue to commit crimes and spill the blood of innocent youths, Afghans will not fall behind on the journey of science and education, he said.
Terrorism against educational centres makes Afghan youth even more resolute and encourage them to try harder, study and attain knowledge, Samimi said.
Terrorist groups are afraid of informed and educated Afghan youth, agreed Fatima Azizi, a Bamiyan University student.
Terrorists will have no chance of recruiting youth if they are educated, she said.
She called on the international community to help Afghans in these tragic and difficult times.
"We demand that the international community not be a spectator in this and not only condemn such attacks but also support Afghans in stopping them," she added.
The international community stood beside Afghans for 20 years, and it would not be fair to forget Afghanistan now, Azizi said.
"If terrorists' nests are not destroyed, they will make not only Afghanistan but the entire world insecure."
"For a safe world, the international community needs to intervene quickly to improve the situation in Afghanistan," she added.
An anti-Islamic and inhumane act
Religious scholars have condemned suicide attacks and bombings targeting civilians and describe them as acts against Islamic and human values.
Those who commit suicide attacks are not part of Islam, said Mawlawi Khairullah Niazi, a religious scholar in Herat city.
"The thought of suicide and bombing has no place in Islam," he said. "Those who commit such crimes using the name of Islam are neither Muslims nor humans. They are a bunch of wild animals who drink human blood."
"An attack on civilians is a crime, regardless of how it is labelled, and its perpetrators will be questioned by God," he added. "Spilling the blood of innocents is a great sin in Islam and will never be forgiven."
Suicide attacks and bombings have no religious justification and their perpetrators will permanently remain in hell, said Malawi Sayed Ahmad Hanafi, a religious scholar in Badghis.
"Innocent Afghans have been the victims of suicide attacks and bombings for years. Those who commit such attacks are murderers, and God has designated a heavy punishment for murderers," he said.
"The youth who were studying in the school and were attacked had committed no crime," he added.
Islam rejects any kind of violence against civilians and innocents, he said, adding that suicide attackers and bombers are tools in the hands of foreign intelligence agencies whose goal is to kill innocents and cause fear.
Although this news indicates the determination of Afghans for a better life and future and that they will never surrender to their enemies. In the meantime, this is also clear that the enemy is also not tired of killing Afghans. The enemy's ultimate goal is to oppress Afghans, killing and swallowing them. No matter how many of us were killed, and how often they shoot us with bullets, their bullets will not finish. There would be no compassion in their hearts, and they will not stop these crimes. Afghanistan will not witness peace as long as Pakistan exists in this world. Thus, the only way to get Afghanistan out of these tribulations is to erase Pakistan from the world map. Afghans should come together and rise against Pakistan.
ReplyBut Pakistan will never vanish because Britain supports it. After successive defeats in the region, Britain decided to take part of India and part of Afghanistan to build a country named Pakistan. After that, they established an army for this so-called country, led by British generals from 1947 to 1951, and then assigned them the mission of implementing and adapting everything Britain wanted them to do. If Britain and the United States will want, they can terminate all terrorists from Pakistan because Pakistan's military and intelligence Service manage terrorists, and they are managed by Britain and financially supported by the United States.
Reply6 Comment
Clearly, brave Afghans, especially the women, never bow down in front of problems, but has the world performed its human and moral duty toward these innocent people? No! Instead of supporting Afghans, the world has made these tragedies. Afghanistan and its people are just a toy for the world's superpowers, which they use to achieve their goals. Interestingly when the United States was attacking Afghanistan in 2001, half of the world sent its forces to Afghanistan to test their weapons in Afghanistan’s war. However, after 20 years of the presence of the international community, as Afghanistan has returned to the situation of 2001, none of these countries are ready to assist Afghans. Moreover, the assistance they provide is minimal because their interests do not require them to support Afghans. Humanity is dead in them. They have no mercy or affection.
Reply6 Comment
Although the Taliban and the Pakistani intelligence service (ISI) always try to persuade the world that Afghans are against education, these brave Afghan girls prove that Afghans are not only against education; rather, they do not abandon the path of science and knowledge even in the most challenging conditions. War has been going on in Afghanistan for forty years, but the number of educated Afghans is increasing yearly. No one can doubt the interest of Afghans in science and knowledge. Once again, As I encourage these girls, I ask God to make them victorious against the enemies of science and knowledge. Amen
Reply6 Comment
It shows how much love Afghans have for knowledge and education. Unfortunately, on one side, Afghans and Afghanistan are caught in the proxy wars of their hypocritical neighbors (Pakistan and Iran). On the other hand, the global superpowers (Britain, Russia, America) and now China is busy in the world's dirty games. Neither the western world showed mercy to Afghans, the Taliban, nor the neighbors, especially Pakistan. The United Kingdom created this country in 1947 by separating parts of India and Afghanistan to destabilize the region after suffering continuous defeats. From 1947 to 1951, under the leadership of British generals, Pakistan's army and intelligence were formed and then given the task of not leaving the region in peace. Because of this novel British mission, neither the Afghans remained calm, nor the Indians were. This country became so dangerous that it eventually started global terrorism and is still taking ransom from the world.
Reply6 Comment
The enemy will try to make Afghans afraid of such attacks, but Afghans will never be afraid of such cowardly attacks from the enemy. Even if they intensify their attacks, the doors of educational centers will be open, and people will continue to study. Afghans do not want to return to darkness but are trying to create a bright future. About nine days have passed since the bloody attack on the Kaj educational center. Today, Monday, October 10, according to the officials of the said academic center, the doors are open for the students. They can go to continue their studies. We are broken, but we will rise again and not let outside intelligence take away our light. We will always strive to keep the torches of knowledge light.
Reply6 Comment