Ups and downs of a cultural policy
Jawad Darwaziyan: 118th public debate – Goftegu, a bridge between the elite and the citizens – was held in the hall of French Institute Afghanistan (FIA) on 3 July 2013 to mark 7 years of Armanshahr Foundation’s (AF) operation in Afghanistan.
Speakers were Ms Homeira Ghaderi (writer and women’s rights activist), Mr Zia Moballegh (writer and civil rights activist), Guilda Shahverdi (director of FIA) and Mr Abdollah Ahmadi (civil rights activist).
The first speaker Ms Shaverdi discussed joint cooperation of Armanshahr Foundation and FIA: “Armanshahr Foundation began the Goftegu debates in FIA and that is a great honour. The topics and debates are increasingly fine tuned every month and year. Citizens from different walks of life show special interest. We are thankful to Armanshahr Foundation for creating this atmosphere in FIA.”
Subsequently, the meeting’s moderator Mr Rooholamin Amini (deputy director of AF) gave a report on the AF’s activities in the past seven years. Next, Ms Ghaderi spoke about AF’s activities regarding women.
Mr Moballegh said the activities of AF were “unique” and “a specific initiative to organise direct debates among the citizens.” He went on: “Armanshahr Foundation lit a torch that aims to elevate culture and reading and to condemn physical confrontation. To publish one hundred thousand copies of books in a land where three thousand were printed until a few years ago is tantamount to a cultural movement. It familiarises the people with books and reading, whereas they knew explosions, suicide bombing and killing until a few years ago. The debates deepen the understanding of topics that can facilitate transition from warmongering and violence to lasting peace.
“Armanshahr Foundation has helped our understanding of concepts such as justice, federalism, human rights, globalization and scores of other issues. This cultural policy should move farther than the elite and expand to people of all walks of life.”
The last speaker Mr Ahmadi discussed the Armanshahr Foundation’s activities in the fields of civil society and citizenship rights. He summed up those activities as follows: the Goftegu public debates, printing of more than one hundred thousand copies of books on human rights, justice, civil society, peace, democracy, citizens and culture that have been offered to the citizens for free. The Simorgh peace prize, advocacy for justice, democracy and human rights on the national and international levels constitute other activities of the AF. The First Women’s International Film Festival in Herat and publication of 32 issues of Armanshahr human rights and civil society periodical are other achievements in this field.
After the speeches, a number of the participants commented. Mr Didar from the Human Rights Research and Advocacy Group said: “I took part in one of the AF debates about globalisation four years ago when I was a student. The ideas presented at the meeting were topics of discussion among the students for a week. I find the AF colleagues quite different from other organisations. AF has always spoken the first words in all collective activities.”
Mr Wahiduddin Arghun, commissioner of the AIHRC said: “If Armanshahr Foundation could undertake more activities in the provinces, there are many enthusiasts. We hope there will be more diverse programmes and we will cooperate more with the AF than before.”
Mr Massoud Hassanzada, a writer and poet, said: “Armanshahr did a great job by publishing two works by George Orwell and Virginia Woolf, but I do not grasp its publishing strategy in the field of literature.”
Mr Mojib Mehrdad, a university professor, said: “Unlike Mr Hassanzada, when I see Edward Said’s Representations of the Intellectual, or the works of Orwell or the Little Prince, AF’s literary policy gains a meaning. Armanshahr Foundation cannot publish all books, but it has published the most important ones.”
In the final part of the meeting, Mr Rafii Behroozian and the 40s Decade group gave a concert. Then Mar Farid Rastegar was accompanied by the 40s Decade group in his songs. Ms Sousan. Ms Sousan also performed two Rap songs.
Around 200 students, university professors, human rights activists, media activists and other people were present at the meeting.
