My affection will assemble us both together

"My affection will assemble us both together upon the arrival of restoration. Savages have set stones between us in this world." 

-Rahila Moska, an adolescent Afghan lady writer from Helmand 

On April 8, 2010, Rahila Moska, who was 16, dedicated suicide after her guardians had found her, by and by, perusing one of her adoration lyrics via telephone. Her guardians accepted there was a kid on the flip side of the line, not a young lady named Ogai, who was likewise a writer and a part of Moska's week by week verse gathering of 40 ladies. Despite the fact that Moska wasn't permitted to go to in individual (her guardians had hauled her out of school), she brought in on the telephone to impart her compelling two-line lyrics called landai- -conventional Pashto sonnets that scrutinize the social request and a lady's parcel inside it. 

These ballads, hundreds of years old, are regularly composed in mystery. Landai accept the thought that the 12 million Pashtun ladies of Afghanistan and Pakistan are compliant or vanquished. As Sahira Sharif, an Afghan MP from Khost Province, puts it, "Most Pashtun ladies are not permitted to express their feelings in the public arena, not even in sonnets. Anyway the soul to raise their voice is constantly alive in them." In 2008, Sharif established an association in Kabul called Mirman Baheer, a social gathering that spins around ladies' verse. The gathering meets on Monday nights in Kabul, however has grown what it calls "cells" in more than eight territories where the ladies off and on again meet in mystery. 

Passings like that of Moska aren't irregular, yet her story is especially convincing. Utilizing Moska's story as a purpose of flight, Eliza Griswold takes after the sensation of ladies' verse in Afghanistan and inspects how 10 years of war has educated this convention. With the ladies of Mirman Baheer, Eliza likewise interprets the landai of the country's heading artists, which nobody has done since "Tunes of Love and War: Afghan Women's Poetry," altered by Sayd Majrouh, who was killed in Peshawar in 1988.

Citizenship

Citizenship indicates the link between a person and a state or a connection of states. It is usually identical with the term nationality though the latter term may also talk about ethnic associations. Possession of citizenship is usually related with the right to work and live in a country and to take part in political life. A person who does not have citizenship in any state is said to be stateless.

Nationality is frequently used as a synonym for citizenship in English – especially in international law – even though the term is sometimes understood as indicating a person's membership of a nation. In some countries for instance the United States and the United Kingdom, "nationality" and "citizenship" have different meanings, and it is likely to be a national of the country but not a citizen.

Factors determining citizenship:

• Parents are citizens
• Born within a country
• Marriage to a citizen
• Naturalization

Citizenship

Citizenship denotes the link between a person and a state or an association of states. It is normally synonymous with the term nationality although the latter term may also refer to ethnic connotations. Possession of citizenship is normally associated with the right to work and live in a country and to participate in political life. A person who does not have citizenship in any state is said to be stateless. Nationality is often used as a synonym for citizenship – notably in international law – although the term is sometimes understood as denoting a person's membership of a nation.

Demography of Afghanistan

The population of Afghanistan is around 30.4 million as of the year 2012, which includes the 2.7 million Afghan refugees temporarily staying in Pakistan and Iran. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Central Asia, Southern Asia, and Western Asia. The majority of Afghanistan's population consist of the Iranic peoples, notably the Pashtuns and Tajiks. The Pashtun is the largest group followed by Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch and others.

Pashto and Dari (Persian) are both the official languages of the country, although Persian is spoken by about half of the population and serves as a lingua franca for the majority. Pashto is spoken widely in the south, east and south west of the country as well as in neighboring northernwestern Pakistan. Uzbek language and Turkmen language are spoken in parts of the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 30 other languages and numerous dialects.

Islam is the religion of more than 99% of Afghanistan. An estimated 80-89% of the population practice Sunni Islam and belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school while 10-19% are Shi'a, majority of the Shia follow the Twelver branch with smaller numbers of Ismailis. The remaining 1% or less practice other religions such as Sikhism and Hinduism.

Despite attempts during the 1980s to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as the principal basis for expressing opposition to the Soviet invasion. Likewise, Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional practices, provide the principal means of controlling personal conduct and settling legal disputes. Excluding urban populations in the principal cities, most Afghans are organized into tribal and other kinship-based groups, which follow their own traditional customs: for instance Pashtunwali.

U.N.: Afghan citizens killed, injured rising sharply

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The number of civilians killed in the Afghan conflict rose 25% in the first six months of the year, with insurgents responsible for the spike, the United Nations said in a report Tuesday.
The report comes after a strong push by NATO forces to reduce civilian casualties and shows success in doing so on the part of the government-allied forces, but also serves as a reminder that the war is getting ever-more violent despite these efforts.

[Thanks http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-08-10-citizens-killed-injured_N.htm ]

"The human cost of this conflict is unfortunately rising," Staffan De Mistura, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan, said about the report released in Kabul.

"We are worried. We are concerned. We are very concerned about the future because the human cost is being paid too heavily by civilians. This report is a wake-up call."

According to the U.N. report, 1,271 Afghans died and 1,997 were injured — mostly from bombings — in the first six months of the year.

The U.N. said insurgents were responsible for 72% of the deaths — up from 58% last year.

As the U.N. held its briefing in Kabul, three civilians were killed when their car struck a roadside bomb just outside Ghazni city in eastern Afghanistan, according to Kazim Allayar, deputy governor of Ghazni province.

And an insurgent-planted bomb killed an Afghan civilian in the area around southern Kandahar city on Monday, according to NATO forces.

De Mistura said militants were using larger and more sophisticated explosive devices throughout the nation.

"If they want to be part of a future Afghanistan, they cannot do so over the bodies of so many civilians," de Mistura said of the insurgents.

De Mistura said the insurgent-caused jump in civilian deaths does not dissuade the U.N. from seeking a negotiated peace with the Taliban, but called on insurgent groups to consider whether they are not hurting their own long-term goals.

"One day, when unavoidably there will be a discussion about the future of the country, will you want to come to that table with thousands of Afghans, civilians, killed along the road?"

Deaths from U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces dropped in the first six months of 2010. The report said that 223, or 18%, of the Afghan deaths were due to U.S., NATO and other pro-government forces. That was down from 310 deaths, or 31%, during the first six months of last year, primarily because of a decrease in air strikes, the report said.

Even so, air attacks were the largest single cause of civilian deaths caused by pro-government forces — accounting for 31%.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former NATO commander, introduced strict rules on air strikes and called on soldiers to assess the likelihood of civilian casualties before taking any action. His successor, Gen. David Petraeus, has continued on the same line.

"Every Afghan death diminishes our cause," Petraeus said in a statement. He also noted that even the increase in insurgent-caused deaths can hurt NATO's effort.

"We know the measure by which our mission will be judged is protecting the population from harm by either side. We will redouble our efforts to prevent insurgents from harming their neighbors," Petraeus said.

Though bombs continued to be the largest killer, there was a large jump in deaths from assassinations, particularly in the last few months.

There were about four assassinations or executions of civilians a week in the first six months of 2009. That jumped to about seven per week this year, and in May and June to 18 per week.

The Taliban has called on its fighters to avoid civilian casualties, but the group pointedly excludes anyone allied with the government from this protection. So mayors, community elders taking foreign money for development projects and mullahs seen as supporting the government have all become targets.

Children have also increasingly become casualties of the war. The report says 176 children were killed and 389 others were wounded — up 55% over the same six-month period last year.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, seven Afghan policemen were killed Monday in attacks in southern Helmand province, police officials said.

In Laghman province in the east, seven Afghan soldiers have died and 14 have been wounded in ongoing fighting with insurgents on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Mehtar, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry. He confirmed reports that up to 20 Afghan soldiers have gone missing in the province and are in the hands of the Taliban. Thirteen militants have been killed and seven Afghan army vehicles have been burned in the clashes aimed at clearing an area between Kabul and Jalalabad, he said.

Demography of Afghanistan

The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2010, which is unclear if the 3 million Afghan refugees living outside the country are included or not. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Western Asia, Central Asia, and Southern Asia. The majority of Afghanistan's population consist of the Iranic peoples, notably the Pashtuns and Tajiks. The Pashtun is the largest group followed by Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch and others.

Pashto and Dari (Persian) are both the official languages of the country. Persian is spoken by about half of the population and serves as a lingua franca for the majority. Pashto is spoken widely in the south, east and south west of the country as well as in neighboring western Pakistan. Uzbek language and Turkmen language are spoken in parts of the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 30 other languages and numerous dialects.

Islam is the religion of 99.7% of Afghanistan. An estimated 80-89% of the population practice Sunni Islam and belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school while 10-19% are Shi'a, majority of the Shia follow the Twelver branch with smaller numbers of Ismailis. The remaining 1% or less practice other religions such as Sikhism and Hinduism. Despite attempts during the 1980s to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as the principal basis for expressing opposition to the Soviet invasion. Likewise, Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional practices, provide the principal means of controlling personal conduct and settling legal disputes. Excluding urban populations in the principal cities, most Afghans are organized into tribal and other kinship-based groups, which follow their own traditional customs: for instance Pashtunwali.