Göteborg Universität (Schweden) über AfghanMania 02.12.2003 Afghanmania was founded on the first of September of 2001 by Wahid Rahim, a 25 years old afghan student who fled to Germany in 1994. One should bear in mind that Afghanistan at that time did not have any access to modern information technologies at all . It is thus a remarkable effort that Rahim who first had to learn German managed to create such an ambitious website. His goal was to provide an independent platform open for Afghans as well as for Germans interested in Afghanistan where discussions and exchange of information could take place. To deliver an up to date news coverage about Afghanistan or matters concerning Afghans in exile afghanmania puts together articles from various German news agencies and newspapers and lists them under the categories politics, economy, culture, entertainment and miscellaneous. Apart from the media coverage afghanmedia offers poems in Farsi, popular Afghan songs which can be heard but not downloaded, as well as recent pictures from Afghanistan. The forum has 3659 registered members who have posted a total of 23.591 comments. Although the number of active users will probably be less than half the number mentioned above, it is still a remarkably huge figure compared to similar German websites. Among Websites that provide a forum and are run by and dedicated to Afghans afghanmania is one of the most popular. The numerous threads don't reveal as much information about the users. Although some threads have been started in order get to know more about each other, most of the users do not specify their age, family status or religion. It seems that they prefer to guard their anonymity. Questions about nationality and religion seem unnecessary in the whole make-up of this website and the issues which are discussed lead to the conclusion that the outstanding majority of it's users are of Afghan origin. It would be rather surprising if non-Afghans take part in discussions about the way Afghan weddings are celebrated, or post comments in threads like "Do you miss Afghanistan?" or "Could you imagine to go back to Afghanistan?" The specific Afghan ethnic background of this site allows those users who are not fluent in German to post their comments in Dari written in Latin or Arabic alphabets whereas comments in Pashto are rare. Nevertheless most comments are in German as some younger members can't read and write Dari. Regarding the style of writing, and some of the topics such as music and films, questions like having a boyfriend or girlfriend, sex before marriage etc. one can assume that the forum is primarily used by younger people. Afghanmania thus offers the opportunity to raise certain questions about the Afghan youth community in Germany: What is their point of view in regard to the events that led to the current situation in Afghanistan? Do they wish to return to Afghanistan? Do they consider themselves Germans or Afghans: If Afghan, what is their background? Pashtun, Hazara, Tajik etc.? How do they judge present and historical Afghan personalities? These are only few questions but, they are most eagerly discussed about among the members of afghanmania as well as Afghans in general. A thorough analysis of Afghan youth in Germany is still lacking. Most attention have been paid to the third generation of Turkish immigrants due to their much higher numbers. The Afghan immigration to Germany began as early as 1978 with the soviet-backed communist coup d'etat in 1978. Most of these immigrants and those who fled in the following years were highly educated and opponents of the communist regime. A second influx of Afghan refugees reached Germany in 1992 and increased in the following years as the Taliban took control of most parts of Afghanistan. A considerable number of these refugees were former communist, some of them high-ranking army generals or party members who were granted asylum in Germany. In regard to their political affiliations the Afghan Diaspora can be further subdivided into numerous political currents ranging from supporters of the former king to Afghans sympathizing with the former Northern Alliance and their martyred leader Ahmad Shah Massud as well as loyalists to Hekmatyar and the Taliban. While some newly immigrated Afghans with a communist or pro-Taliban background tend to negate their past fearing reprisals the Internet and it's anonymity offers the opportunity to express and defend their ideas openly and without physical consequences. Certainly, most afghanmania members are too young to have been affiliated with any of the fighting parties but they as well take a stance in the political sphere. The minority of afghanmania members that experienced the rule of successive regimes therefore have sometimes a different point of view concerning certain political figures. Most heated debates that have even led to the temporarily exclusion of members deal with the questions of who is guilty in the current situation in Afghanistan, who should be prosecuted for war crimes and to whom should be paid tribute and honour. A never ending discussion and typical in this context is the assessment of Ahmad Shah Massud, who was murdered on the 9th of September 2001. While some members who have grown up in Germany consider him as a hero and idol especially for young Afghans others in particular more recently immigrated members vehemently reject this notion and point to the crimes and murders which have been committed by his militia, therefore considering him as war criminal who should have been prosecuted if he had been alive. Considering the question of returning to Afghanistan all members utter the strong wish to visit Afghanistan but only few can imagine to live there forever. Some have never seen Afghanistan or were too young to have any memories. Their picture of Afghanistan therefore is deeply influenced by stories they hear from their parents or relatives. Although most confess that they have taken over German or European values and traditions and therefore expect to face problems of identity when they would travel to Afghanistan nobody considers himself a German. Few state that they never will be integrated in Germany no matter how hard they tried and that they are looking forward to go back to Afghanistan and take part in the reconstruction process. This wish of helping or contributing to the reconstruction of Afghanistan is shared by all members who consider it as a duty to all Afghans whether in Afghanistan or abroad. Several threads deal with the question of how young Afghans in Germany could help to rebuild Afghanistan. To this end some members have left the virtual room to meet and discuss about this issue. Afghanmania thus can not only be used as a platform to discuss controversial issues concerning Afghanistan it also has the capacity of creating a closer network of Afghans living in Germany who are willing to contribute to the peace process. Members who travelled to Afghanistan recently post essais about their journey and give advices for those wishing to go there soon. One member uploaded some video-sequences of his journey through Afghanistan which was greatly honoured by other members. << | >> |
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