A number of participants of the 118th Goftegu public debate on 3 July 2013 expressed their views about Armanshahr’s activities.
Roya Sadat, filmmaker:
I congratulate Armanshahr colleagues for their success, because they are a small group but full of energy, new and useful ideas. Some of our friends say that the number of participants in the Goftegu meetings is occasionally few. My opinion is that the people are not ready for such topics yet. Therefore, Armanshahr should not be worried even if there are five participants. One should not expect too many people in such meetings, because these issues have not taken root yet.
Didar Ali Didar, member of Human Rights Research and Advocacy Group:
I remember that I took part in one of the Goftegu meetings four years ago when I was a student of Kabul University. The topic was two interpretations of globalisation, where Messrs Latif Pedram and Professor Nooreddin Alavi spoke. The university students discussed the speeches of the speakers for a week after the meeting. This signifies the importance of such meetings, which really bridge the gap between the elite and the citizens.
I have other experiences with Armanshahr and find other friends working for it quite different from other friends who work in others civil institutions. I was once in Herat and planned to organise a meeting. When I contacted a friend in Armanshahr’s Herat Office, I received about 300 copies of books on human rights and women’s rights in less than half an hour. In collective civil activities, Armanshahr has the first word. For example, in Transitional Justice Coordination Group of which we are also a member, Armanshahr is always an advocate of rights of the victims and the citizens.
I suggest to Armanshahr to concentrate more on students and the young people, because they are open to change and can bring about change in the society. I also ask Armanshahr to expand their projects to schools so that school students can also be informed of such issues as human rights, democracy and citizens’ rights.
Wahiddudin Arghun, Commissioner of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission:
I was a participant of two programs that Armanshahr organised in Badakhshan province, which were enthusiastically received by the people. The participants were also highly interested in the books that were distributed. I wish to ask Armanshahr friends to expand those programs in the provinces. There is interest in such topics in the remote provinces.
Massoud Hassanzada, poet and writer:
There are two very pleasing events as far as Armanshahr’s book publishing is concerned: two novels by George Orwell and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. I also wish to say that Armanshahr is one of the successful non-governmental organisations in Afghanistan. The publishing of about 100,000 copies of books in Afghanistan by a non-governmental organisation is something unprecedented.
Yassin Negah, poet and writer:
By some account, I was born in Armanshahr. I learned from it, I was a participant as well as a speaker and a friend of its managers. As a person who has been involved in culture and literature to some extent, my take is that Armanshahr is among the institutions that says less and does more. It has been organising the Goftegu programmes for seven years, publishing books, taking positions on civil and human rights issues, working in the fields of women’s and children’s rights, on the war, peace, promotion of peace and other human rights values. They are all worthy of praise.
Mojib Mehrdad, poet and writer:
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Information and Culture has been highly politicised at some stages. It has been the mouthpiece of unpleasant political wishes of the government. In the absence of the government, institutions such as Armanshahr become more significant. Publishing of 100,000 copies of books is not an easy task, but a great achievement. That is also true of organising more than 100 Goftegu meetings on different topics.
It is fortunate that we have such good institutions, in the absence of a cultural government, which have held up the torch of literature and culture. I am also one of the people who have learnt from Armanshahr. Our first literary criticism meetings as poet and writer began with Armanshahr.
Abdullah Ataei, coordinator of Heinrich Böll Foundation’s programmes in Afghanistan:
Armanshahr is one of our close colleagues with which we have been cooperating since 2012 and shall continue to do so in order to promote human rights and civil values.
Jawad Hamidi, law student at Kabul University:
I came to know Armanshahr in 2010. Many institutions engage in routine affairs and vanish away. However, Armanshahr has been speaking of values that others hardly referred to. It has swum against the current in the past seven years. Our celebration of its seventh anniversary in Afghanistan signifies that it is a dedicated and honest institution.
