"In Sports There is No Differences Between a Hazara, Pashtun, or Tajik": Humans of Kabul

NEW DELHI: Everyone has by now heard of Humans of New York, propelling its creator Brandon Stanton to international stardom. HONY, what the Facebook page is often abbreviated to, has spurned countless spinoffs: Humans of New Delhi, Humans of London, Humans of India, Humans of Rome, Humans of Amsterdam … we could go on and one and on.

Amongst all these spinoffs is a lesser known treasure. Meet the Humans of Kabul -- a Facebook page with 30,000 followers that offers a rare glimpse into ordinary life in the conflict torn country.

Here are some of the posts from Humans of Kabul.

"Can you tell us about yourself?"
"If you put my picture somewhere, people will know me as the person who is the strongest and who eats a lot. I can drink 30 bottles of water and 30 cans of Pepsi, and people just know it. And I can eat lots of apples, that's just how I am."

"If you could send a message to a wider audience, what would it be?"
"Sports are a way to reach peace., because sports do not have any boundaries. Anybody speaking any language of any nationality can do sports, and that itself is a symbol of peace. For us here doing sports, there is no difference between a Hazara, Pashtun, or Tajik, it's something we can all share, and if everybody can get onto this level then we will be in a better place."

"So what books are popular these days?"
"Sales have gone way down. Now people are using the internet and don't even read books anymore. The culture of reading books is very rare among the youth these days. They're on their mobile phones and computers. They just aren't reading books."

"How long has this photography shop been open?"
"30 years."

"How is that possible, I thought that the Taliban banned photography?" "The Taliban did not close all the photography shops. They just banned any head-to-toe photos of women and recreational photography. If a woman came for a passport photo or something, she had to be with a male relative. There were times when the Taliban were checking our shop every day for pictures of women."

"Did you ever break the Taliban's rules?"
"We had to make a living for our families, so sometimes we took pictures with an instant Polaroid camera that were not allowed. At weddings for example, the bride and groom would want a couple of photos, maybe four or five, to remember that day. We also did something special for the Eid holidays, where we would have a horse and a Kawasaki 550 cc motorcycle outside of the shop and the men could get their photo taken on one. Such a motorcycle was very rare in Kabul during those days. Sometimes the Taliban were ok with it and sometimes they were not ok with it, sometimes they ignored it and sometimes they stopped us."

"Do you have children?" "Yes, four children.
They are all grown up now."

"What's the biggest challenge with raising children?" "You really have to guide them with who they walk with, who they talk to. It's very important for you to observe all of their behavior, like where are they going, what time are they going, who are they going with, to make sure they can become someone in the future."

"The economy has changed a lot in the last year, what are your thoughts?" "I worked for international organizations for nine years, I worked for Canadians, Americans, Australians, and others, but when I applied for a visa to these countries, no one responds to me."

"Have you considered using human smugglers to leave the country?" "That's not working. All the Afghan people are selling their homes, their land, to go to Germany, and I think the President of Germany said they were going to send back all the people from Afghanistan. But still, they are leaving from here. And the reason is this - there are no jobs, nothing."

"So you don't want to go to Germany, you can't find a job, so what are you going to do?" "Everyone is thinking, 'What should I do?' Like me, I'm thinking what if ISIS comes to Afghanistan, they will kill me and my brothers and my children because I worked with the foreigners."

"And what are you thinking then?"
"What should I do?"

"Can you tell me something special about this neighborhood?"
"There is a close and friendly relationship with everyone here."

"We saw some kids playing outside by themselves - is that safe?"
"From Pul-e-Sorkh to this area [Qala-e-Wazir], it is all one family, there is no crime, no insecurity, everyone is going to look out for each other."

"Are you worried at all, if someone comes and blows up the front of this hotel?
"This is our job, to provide security. We are not afraid of anything, that is why we are standing here."

"Can you tell me about the worst day of your life?"
"In 2nd and 3rd grade I did not get 1st position in my class, there were other students who were so intelligent."

"So when your parents found out that you didn't get 1st position in the class, what did they say?"
"My parents do not care about what position me and my siblings get in the class. They are sending us to these after-school education centers to learn things, and they say that this is our business what position we get."

"And what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"A doctor. Now in Afghanistan there are not many good doctors."

"I come from a mixed family. My father is Pashtun and my mother is Tajik, and I enjoy being a mixed Afghan. I actually call myself a pure Afghan, because I love both. So if someone is abusing Pashtuns, I mind this. If someone is saying something bad about Tajiks, I mind it. You know, some of my family members, they are like, 'Hey, your father is Pashtun, why are you not speaking Pashto?' And the other side is like, 'Hey, your mother is Tajik, why are you not speaking in Dari?' What I do, with Pashtuns, is I speak Dari, and with Tajiks, most of the time I speak Pashto, to show them that they also need to learn.

And many people here are like, 'We are from such and such tribe'. I hate that. My father decided not to take his tribe as a last name, and instead he made his own philosophical last name, 'Rawan'. 'Rawan' means 'active and progressing' in Dari and Pashto, like 'moving forward'. So I have also taken this last name."

"We were there [at the student protest for Farkhunda] to show that this generation is not going to support everything that other people would like to force on us. We are not that generation. If you try to force, we will stand against it as much as we can. The way Farkhunda stood [against superstitious rituals], every one of us are ready to stand against this type of violence."

"We demand that justice be served to those arrested for this mob murder. There is no violence towards women permitted in Islam, so how could people justify this crime? The mullah at this masjid who engages in sorcery [????? ?????] burned papers and then falsely accused her of burning a Holy Qur'an. Farkhunda was studying in the Faculty of Sharia Law at university in her last semester, why would she burn a Holy Qur'an? I wish that her family may be strong to overcome this horrible tragedy."