Political Stability In The Kite Runner
Dhillon 1
Deep Dhillon
Mr. Shurrie
ENG3U0-G
April 27, 2015
Afghanistan a Country lacking political stability
Politics is the backbone of a country. It is a way of thinking and an idealistic profession.
Throughout the course of history, politics changes from being dictatorial government to permitting people to decide the ruler. Strong political approach can make a country strong and help it grow economically. Decisions by the government directly affects the everyday life of people. Such is the case in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner where Afghanistan’s consistent political conflicts ends up affecting the character’s life in many ways. The political scenario is unstable in Afghanistan for about four decades. This restricts the country …show more content…
from forwarding and progressing. The Kite Runner is inspired by the author’s own experience of living in Afghanistan. The novel provides details on the changing political landscape in
Afghanistan and how that affects Afghan people. The changing political landscape in
Afghanistan divides Pashtuns and Hazaras, leads to the Russian invasion and creates an opportunity for Taliban to rise.
To begin with, the political affairs in Afghanistan divide Pashtuns and Hazaras. Pashtuns and Hazaras are citizens of Afghanistan but Hazaras are always considered outsiders. In the novel, Hazaras have been target of hate and anger of Pashtuns. This ideology is seen when Assef fights with Hassan, who is a Hazara. He says, “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His people pollute our
Dhillon 2 homeland, our watan…” (Hosseini 43-44). Assef is a Pashtun and he is a firm believer that
Hazaras do not belong in Afghanistan. He clearly does not like Hassan because Hassan belongs to the Hazara race. So when he sees Amir playing with Hassan, he threatens Hassan and advices
Amir not to play with him. He even prohibits other Pashtun boys from having any contact with
Hazaras. Hence, the belief of Pashtuns being the dominant ethic group can be seen through
Assef’s speech and thoughts. They always target Hazaras and threatens them to leave the country. They have been targeted by the Pashtuns majority, in Afghanistan for a long time, certainly since the time of King Abdurrahman in 1854, but they are especially persecuted under the Taliban (Burnside). Pashtuns and Hazaras are two different types of Muslims. Pashtuns are
Sunni Muslims while Hazaras are Shia Muslims. Pashtuns view Afghanistan as a land of Sunni
Muslims only. Thus, religion plays a big part in creating this rift among people of these two groups. This division between two groups is visible to the whole world. Pashtuns also treat
Hazaras badly because Hazaras’ facial features are very different from that of Pashtuns.
Whenever Assef sees Ali, father of Hassan, walking he makes fun of him just because his body figure is not like everyone else. He also insults Hassan because Hassan has a flat nose. Hazaras are given jobs as servants to work for Pashtuns. Pashtuns do not treat Hazaras as their friends in public because they feel it is an insult for them. Amir always plays with Hassan at home but whenever he is in public or with someone else, he treats Hassan no better than a servant. He feels shame to call him his friend. Hence, the difference in ethnicity impacts Hazara people in a great way. As a result, the Pashtuns and Hazaras do not consider each other friends but they consider each other enemies even though they live in the same country.
Secondly, the weak political state of Afghanistan leads to the Soviet Union invasion.
After Daoud Khan is assassinated, People’s Democratic Party comes to power. The party is
Dhillon 3 politically very weak and do not have good leaders to handle a country as big as Afghanistan. As a result, Soviet Union gets a chance to attack a weak nation and take over it completely. By the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union’s troops are on the Afghanistan’s soil. This causes a war like conditions in the country. In the novel, the author illustrates this situation when Amir and Baba, Amir’s father, have to leave the country and go to Pakistan to take shelter. Soviet
Union invasion threatens each and every one living in Afghanistan. Before leaving for Pakistan,
Amir states, “Our way of life. If not quite yet, then at least it was the beginning of the end. The end, the official end, would be come first in April 1978 with the Communist coup d’état, and then in December 1979, when the Russian tank would roll into the very same streets where
Hassan and I played...” (Hosseini 39). It is clear that Amir is pessimistic about the future of
Afghanistan. When he hears about the Russian invasion, Amir calls it the official end of their happy and peaceful life. He knows that Soviet Union troops will make everyone’s life worse and his homeland will never be the same. When Amir and Baba make a decision to go to Pakistan, they make the choice because they are unsecure about their future. They believe that foreigners will treat them unfairly. The Russian Invasion affects people badly. In the decade following, the
Soviet Union invasion in 1979 1.5 million Afghans were killed, another million were injured and disabled, 6.2 million fled to Pakistan, Iran and the rest of the world (Fitzgerald 80). The numbers show the suffering of Afghan people during the time period Soviet Union troops are ruling the
Afghanistan. Russians tries to spread communist in Afghanistan and try to take strict action against anyone who is anti-communist. Baba leaves Afghanistan because he is against the idea of communism. He know how he can be in a danger if Russians get to know about his views against communism. Russian soldiers have orders to do anything they want. They charge fine for the use of certain routes in Afghanistan. Baba has to pay the driver a lot of money just to go to Pakistan
Dhillon 4 because Russian charge a lot of money when someone uses roads to travel. Hence, the weak political leadership in Afghanistan leads to the Soviet Union invasion. This affects the country very badly. Many people lost their lives and the country became economically unstable.
Finally, political conditions in Afghanistan give a chance to Taliban to rise. After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan, many groups start to fight with each other in order to take control of certain parts of Afghanistan. In this unstable situation, Taliban fights with all other groups and takes control of the major part of the country. This makes the country fighting free after a long time. For people Taliban soldiers are their hero. Soon, these heroes turns into villains. The peace is over. They starts to kill Hazaras and force many other rules and regulations on common people. When Rahim Khan leaves Afghanistan and leaves Hassan as a care taker of the Baba’s house in Afghanistan, Taliban soldiers find a great opportunity to take control of the Baba’s house. They order Hassan to leave the house because according to them it is against rules for a Hazara to be the owner of such a big house. When Hassan protests, they kill him along with his wife. Rahim mentions the cruel acts of Taliban to Amir when he says, “the pretext was that they had evicted a trespasser. Hassan’s and Farzana’s murder were dismissed as a case of self-defence. No one said a word about it. Most of it was fear of the Taliban” (Hosseini
231-232). Taliban has its own rules and regulations. The way they dismisses the murder case of
Hassan and his wife, it shows the injustice of Taliban. They mold their rule according to their needs. They don’t care if their decisions affect people or not. Also, the way no one stands up against cruel acts of Taliban shows how much Taliban soldiers scare people. Even though Talban promises to provide piece and safety, they are always against Hazaras. The act of taking over the
Baba’s house just because Hassan who is a Hazara is controlling it shows their hate towards
Hazaras. They always try their best to supress Hazaras. The word “Taliban” comes from Arabic
Dhillon 5 language which means “student, seeker” (Merriam-Webster.com). Taliban usually consist of soldiers who fights for mujahideen group. Their main goal is to fight Russian and kick them out of the country. When they take over Afghanistan, people treats them as their heroes. But, soon people realizes how much damage Taliban is doing to their country.
Taliban forces people to follow their rules and regulations. Under the Taliban, Strict Shariah law was enforced. They were criticized around the world for their treatment of women and children, as well as their denial of food and aid to underserved citizen throughout their rule (“The Taliban”). The treatment of Afghan citizens under the rule of Taliban is extremely poor. When Amir goes back to Afghanistan after a long time, he feels like tourist in the country. He sees poor people on the streets, damaged houses and Taliban soldiers carrying guns. All the happiness and the peace is gone from the country. Therefore, he sees a beautiful and peaceful country deprived of peace and their rights by Taliban soldiers. Taliban, who believe it is the will of God to kill people who commit any mistake.
In essence, the lack of strong politics and forever changing political landscapes creates a rift between two ethical groups known as Pashtuns and Hazaras and make them hate each other, make it very easy for Soviet Union to take control of Afghanistan and finally invade it and helps
Taliban create its Regime in Afghanistan. Afghanistan being a politically weak nation has to …show more content…
go through many incidents in the history that weakens the country. After going through a war like condition in the country for about four decades, citizens of Afghanistan do not even know how peace feels like.
The country has fallen from a top of the cliff to the ultimate bottom. Thing that concerns the most is how fast it has fallen. The country is known for its beautiful landscape and good people but the fighting ruins almost everything in the country. Highly educated people have no choice but to beg for money while young generating is not even getting education. If this
Dhillon 6 conflict goes on for another long period of time, the day is not far when the country will lose it existence from the map of the world. The pain of Afghan citizens is now unbearable and they must have to unite together in order to create a strong political force in the country that will help fight all the evil people in the country. This is the time to start from scratch and build a strong and powerful nation.
Dhillon 7
Work Cited
Burnside, Julian. "The Hazaras - Right Now." Right Now. 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
<http://rightnow.org.au/topics/asylum-seekers/the-hazaras>.
Fitzgerald, Paul. "Ending the 30-Year War in Afghanistan." Afghanistan, 1979-2009: In the Grip of Conflict. Washington, D.C.: Middle East Institute, 2009.
Print.
"Taliban". Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
"The Taliban." MAPPING MILITANT ORGANIZATIONS. 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
<http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/367>.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin Publishing Group, 2003. Print.
Deep Dhillon
Mr. Shurrie
ENG3U0-G
April 27, 2015
Afghanistan a Country lacking political stability
Politics is the backbone of a country. It is a way of thinking and an idealistic profession.
Throughout the course of history, politics changes from being dictatorial government to permitting people to decide the ruler. Strong political approach can make a country strong and help it grow economically. Decisions by the government directly affects the everyday life of people. Such is the case in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner where Afghanistan’s consistent political conflicts ends up affecting the character’s life in many ways. The political scenario is unstable in Afghanistan for about four decades. This restricts the country …show more content…
from forwarding and progressing. The Kite Runner is inspired by the author’s own experience of living in Afghanistan. The novel provides details on the changing political landscape in
Afghanistan and how that affects Afghan people. The changing political landscape in
Afghanistan divides Pashtuns and Hazaras, leads to the Russian invasion and creates an opportunity for Taliban to rise.
To begin with, the political affairs in Afghanistan divide Pashtuns and Hazaras. Pashtuns and Hazaras are citizens of Afghanistan but Hazaras are always considered outsiders. In the novel, Hazaras have been target of hate and anger of Pashtuns. This ideology is seen when Assef fights with Hassan, who is a Hazara. He says, “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His people pollute our
Dhillon 2 homeland, our watan…” (Hosseini 43-44). Assef is a Pashtun and he is a firm believer that
Hazaras do not belong in Afghanistan. He clearly does not like Hassan because Hassan belongs to the Hazara race. So when he sees Amir playing with Hassan, he threatens Hassan and advices
Amir not to play with him. He even prohibits other Pashtun boys from having any contact with
Hazaras. Hence, the belief of Pashtuns being the dominant ethic group can be seen through
Assef’s speech and thoughts. They always target Hazaras and threatens them to leave the country. They have been targeted by the Pashtuns majority, in Afghanistan for a long time, certainly since the time of King Abdurrahman in 1854, but they are especially persecuted under the Taliban (Burnside). Pashtuns and Hazaras are two different types of Muslims. Pashtuns are
Sunni Muslims while Hazaras are Shia Muslims. Pashtuns view Afghanistan as a land of Sunni
Muslims only. Thus, religion plays a big part in creating this rift among people of these two groups. This division between two groups is visible to the whole world. Pashtuns also treat
Hazaras badly because Hazaras’ facial features are very different from that of Pashtuns.
Whenever Assef sees Ali, father of Hassan, walking he makes fun of him just because his body figure is not like everyone else. He also insults Hassan because Hassan has a flat nose. Hazaras are given jobs as servants to work for Pashtuns. Pashtuns do not treat Hazaras as their friends in public because they feel it is an insult for them. Amir always plays with Hassan at home but whenever he is in public or with someone else, he treats Hassan no better than a servant. He feels shame to call him his friend. Hence, the difference in ethnicity impacts Hazara people in a great way. As a result, the Pashtuns and Hazaras do not consider each other friends but they consider each other enemies even though they live in the same country.
Secondly, the weak political state of Afghanistan leads to the Soviet Union invasion.
After Daoud Khan is assassinated, People’s Democratic Party comes to power. The party is
Dhillon 3 politically very weak and do not have good leaders to handle a country as big as Afghanistan. As a result, Soviet Union gets a chance to attack a weak nation and take over it completely. By the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union’s troops are on the Afghanistan’s soil. This causes a war like conditions in the country. In the novel, the author illustrates this situation when Amir and Baba, Amir’s father, have to leave the country and go to Pakistan to take shelter. Soviet
Union invasion threatens each and every one living in Afghanistan. Before leaving for Pakistan,
Amir states, “Our way of life. If not quite yet, then at least it was the beginning of the end. The end, the official end, would be come first in April 1978 with the Communist coup d’état, and then in December 1979, when the Russian tank would roll into the very same streets where
Hassan and I played...” (Hosseini 39). It is clear that Amir is pessimistic about the future of
Afghanistan. When he hears about the Russian invasion, Amir calls it the official end of their happy and peaceful life. He knows that Soviet Union troops will make everyone’s life worse and his homeland will never be the same. When Amir and Baba make a decision to go to Pakistan, they make the choice because they are unsecure about their future. They believe that foreigners will treat them unfairly. The Russian Invasion affects people badly. In the decade following, the
Soviet Union invasion in 1979 1.5 million Afghans were killed, another million were injured and disabled, 6.2 million fled to Pakistan, Iran and the rest of the world (Fitzgerald 80). The numbers show the suffering of Afghan people during the time period Soviet Union troops are ruling the
Afghanistan. Russians tries to spread communist in Afghanistan and try to take strict action against anyone who is anti-communist. Baba leaves Afghanistan because he is against the idea of communism. He know how he can be in a danger if Russians get to know about his views against communism. Russian soldiers have orders to do anything they want. They charge fine for the use of certain routes in Afghanistan. Baba has to pay the driver a lot of money just to go to Pakistan
Dhillon 4 because Russian charge a lot of money when someone uses roads to travel. Hence, the weak political leadership in Afghanistan leads to the Soviet Union invasion. This affects the country very badly. Many people lost their lives and the country became economically unstable.
Finally, political conditions in Afghanistan give a chance to Taliban to rise. After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan, many groups start to fight with each other in order to take control of certain parts of Afghanistan. In this unstable situation, Taliban fights with all other groups and takes control of the major part of the country. This makes the country fighting free after a long time. For people Taliban soldiers are their hero. Soon, these heroes turns into villains. The peace is over. They starts to kill Hazaras and force many other rules and regulations on common people. When Rahim Khan leaves Afghanistan and leaves Hassan as a care taker of the Baba’s house in Afghanistan, Taliban soldiers find a great opportunity to take control of the Baba’s house. They order Hassan to leave the house because according to them it is against rules for a Hazara to be the owner of such a big house. When Hassan protests, they kill him along with his wife. Rahim mentions the cruel acts of Taliban to Amir when he says, “the pretext was that they had evicted a trespasser. Hassan’s and Farzana’s murder were dismissed as a case of self-defence. No one said a word about it. Most of it was fear of the Taliban” (Hosseini
231-232). Taliban has its own rules and regulations. The way they dismisses the murder case of
Hassan and his wife, it shows the injustice of Taliban. They mold their rule according to their needs. They don’t care if their decisions affect people or not. Also, the way no one stands up against cruel acts of Taliban shows how much Taliban soldiers scare people. Even though Talban promises to provide piece and safety, they are always against Hazaras. The act of taking over the
Baba’s house just because Hassan who is a Hazara is controlling it shows their hate towards
Hazaras. They always try their best to supress Hazaras. The word “Taliban” comes from Arabic
Dhillon 5 language which means “student, seeker” (Merriam-Webster.com). Taliban usually consist of soldiers who fights for mujahideen group. Their main goal is to fight Russian and kick them out of the country. When they take over Afghanistan, people treats them as their heroes. But, soon people realizes how much damage Taliban is doing to their country.
Taliban forces people to follow their rules and regulations. Under the Taliban, Strict Shariah law was enforced. They were criticized around the world for their treatment of women and children, as well as their denial of food and aid to underserved citizen throughout their rule (“The Taliban”). The treatment of Afghan citizens under the rule of Taliban is extremely poor. When Amir goes back to Afghanistan after a long time, he feels like tourist in the country. He sees poor people on the streets, damaged houses and Taliban soldiers carrying guns. All the happiness and the peace is gone from the country. Therefore, he sees a beautiful and peaceful country deprived of peace and their rights by Taliban soldiers. Taliban, who believe it is the will of God to kill people who commit any mistake.
In essence, the lack of strong politics and forever changing political landscapes creates a rift between two ethical groups known as Pashtuns and Hazaras and make them hate each other, make it very easy for Soviet Union to take control of Afghanistan and finally invade it and helps
Taliban create its Regime in Afghanistan. Afghanistan being a politically weak nation has to …show more content…
go through many incidents in the history that weakens the country. After going through a war like condition in the country for about four decades, citizens of Afghanistan do not even know how peace feels like.
The country has fallen from a top of the cliff to the ultimate bottom. Thing that concerns the most is how fast it has fallen. The country is known for its beautiful landscape and good people but the fighting ruins almost everything in the country. Highly educated people have no choice but to beg for money while young generating is not even getting education. If this
Dhillon 6 conflict goes on for another long period of time, the day is not far when the country will lose it existence from the map of the world. The pain of Afghan citizens is now unbearable and they must have to unite together in order to create a strong political force in the country that will help fight all the evil people in the country. This is the time to start from scratch and build a strong and powerful nation.
Dhillon 7
Work Cited
Burnside, Julian. "The Hazaras - Right Now." Right Now. 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
<http://rightnow.org.au/topics/asylum-seekers/the-hazaras>.
Fitzgerald, Paul. "Ending the 30-Year War in Afghanistan." Afghanistan, 1979-2009: In the Grip of Conflict. Washington, D.C.: Middle East Institute, 2009.
Print.
"Taliban". Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
"The Taliban." MAPPING MILITANT ORGANIZATIONS. 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
<http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/367>.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin Publishing Group, 2003. Print.