Skip to content Skip to navigation

Afghan scribe bats for strong ties with India

Guwahati: India and Afghanistan have maintained historically close ties fruitful for both nations. But political disturbances in Pakistan, located in between, poses difficulties for the Indo-Afghan bilateral relationship, observed senior Afghan radio journalist Abdul Mujeeb Khalvatgar while interacting with city based scribes on Sunday (3 March). He was participating in Guwahati Press Club's 'Meet the Press' programme through video conferencing from Kabul.

However, these difficulties are short lived and both the friendly nations soon revert to business as usual. Regarding the present Indo-Pak standoff and the volatile situation in Kashmir, Khalvatgar asserted that the Indian government has legitimate rights to defend their territory and people. This is why New Delhi has drawn support from various countries, said the young scribe academically qualified in international relations.

Terming Afghanistan itself as a victim of terror, Khalvatgar urged all progressive forces worldwide to unite against terrorism that has emerged as a curse to the human race. Persistent conflicts fuelled by terrorism can ruin a nation, and Khalvatgar's native country today represents a classic example of this malady. Speaking about the woeful condition of education and health sectors in Afghanistan, Khalvatgar said that many young Afghans now prefer to go to India for pursuing higher and professional education. Moreover many patients from Afghanistan, primarily suffering from hypertension, blood sugar, liver ailment and various cancers opt for treatment at Indian hospitals. Indian film actors and Bollywood fare as well as Hindi tele-serials continue to be popular among Afghans, Khalvatgar informed, adding that large sections of rural women remain glued to their TV sets running dubbed versions of Indian entertainment serials in local languages.

Fluent in Persian, Pashto and English languages, the author-journalist also revealed that many Afghan residents perceive India as a fairytale land where women usually pursue higher education to hold powerful positions in government and the corporate world. Khalvatgar also appreciated the latest initiative to open a trade route between Afghanistan and India through Chabahar port of friendly nation Iran (bypassing Pakistan) that re-establishes the importance of Kabul as an international business centre in the present era.

Nevertheless, he disclosed that the turmoil in Pakistan has severely affected the ongoing peace process between Taliban and the US administration. Radical Islamists are not interested in talking to the Afghan government in Kabul, whereas India has always championed negotiations, he said.

Speaking of New Delhi’s developmental initiatives in Afghanistan which have generated huge goodwill there, Khalvatgar pointed out that Afghanistan is the second-largest recipient of aid from India after Bhutan. Hundreds of community development projects are being run by Indian agencies in various sectors like education, health, rural development, agriculture etc.

Having studied professional journalism in Europe, USA, Turkey, Sri Lanka and India, Khalvatgar has also authored ‘Islam and Globalization’, ‘Provincial Councils and National Cooperation’ and ‘Ethics on Social Media’. He has been an active member of media law working groups, journalists’ ethical codes and access to information law in Afghanistan.

Despite numerous threats to media persons, Khalvatgar claimed, Afghanistan still supports a good deal of journalism in comparison to neighboring countries. Media may not have a direct strategy for peace and conflict resolution, but the Afghan media fraternity significantly contributes to various peace building efforts in the country, he affirmed.

However, mainstream journalism across the globe has been facing major challenges from social/alternate media. People now look for internet-fed outlets for prompt news coverage while they also prefer newspapers and news channels for in-depth and analytical inputs. Even amidst fake news hogging headlines, social media continues to be a great influence on public opinion, said Khalvatgar as he signed off.

Author info

AT News Guwahati's picture

Add new comment

Random Stories

Yoga Day celebrated

21 Jun 2017 - 6:41pm | Shajid Khan
International Yoga Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm here at Patanjali Acharjya Kulam in Garuajhar of Udalguri along the Indo-Bhutan border on Wednesday. Kamali Basumatari legislator of...

Anundoram Borooah Award presented at Udalguri

5 Feb 2016 - 10:55pm | Shajid Khan
A total of 1,006 HSLC candidates who secured first division from among 6,058 candidates passed in the last 2015 HSLC examination under Udalguri district were presented the prestigious Anundoram...

Katakey panel to probe Golaghat firing

30 Aug 2014 - 11:16am | AT News
Justice (retd) BP Katakey will probe the circumstances leading to the police firing in Golaghat town and its adjoining areas on August 20, 2014. The Assam government has issued the formal...

Teachers’ appointment at Kokrajhar

23 Jan 2015 - 5:43pm | Hantigiri Narzary
Altogether 1,441 teachers from four districts of BTAD were given away appointment letters for regular posts in Lower Primary and Upper Primary Schools at a function held at Bodofa Cultutal Complex at...

Other Contents by Author

Guwahati: Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) expresses profound grief at the demise of Agra based senior journalist Pankaj Kulashrestha with Covid-19 complications. The forum announces Kulashrestha, who tested positive for novel corona virus, as the second Indian media martyr in the fight against corona outbreak after Bengal photojournalist Ronny Roy. Kulashrestha (50) was associated with a prominent Hindi daily newspaper and succumbed to corona complications on the night of 7 May 2020 in a local hospital. The authority has already quarantined the office, where the brave media warrior used to work and taken samples from every one for screening of the deadly virus. The soft-spoken scribe left...
Guwahati: Northeast Futsal League (NEFL) is being played in NC Bordoloi Indoor , Sarusajai Guwahati, Assam. It is India’s first-ever mixed-gender futsal league, which will feature six teams in total, will be played over a period of seven days (25th-31th August, 2019). In the third match of the ongoing North East Futsal league presently going on in Guwahati, Apurba Manipur drew with Assam Titans in a 2-2 draw. While the Scorers for Manipur were Md Shah Jahan and Md Yasir, Atlanta Basumatary and Arman Singha netted the ball for Assam. In the other match between Mizo falcons vs Meghalaya Thunders, Mizoram won by a handsome margin of five goals. All the matches will be streamed online on...
Guwahati: Northeast Futsal League (NEFL) is being played in NC Bordoloi Indoor , Sarusajai Guwahati, Assam. It is India’s first-ever mixed-gender futsal league, which will feature six teams in total, will be played over a period of seven days (25th-31th August, 2019). In the first match, Arunachal showed a comprehensive performance to snacth a win against Meghalaya Thunders, Paula Boza Gil from Spain playing for Arunachal becomes 1st female player of the league to score, she scored both the goals.Francis was the lone scorer for Meghalaya as the Match ended in a 2-1 win for Arunachal. In the second match Mizo Falcons won against Apunba Manipur 3-2. For Mizo Falcons their captain Alan...
The annual cultural festival of IIT Guwahati, Alcheringa, in its 23rd incarnation has been scheduled in the fine winter season of January and February, from 31st January to 3rd February. This edition of Alcheringa is showing a promising start to grow more and more. Along with the entertainment and events, Alcheringa takes pride in showcasing it’s social responsibility by launching a range of campaigns from “Udaan” for underprivileged people to “North-East Unveiled” with the aim of spreading the culture, tradition and Beauty of North-east countrywide. Besides the awesome Pronites line up which have seen the likes of Sonu Nigam, Mohit Chauhan, Mika, Vishal-Shekhar at this cultural festival...
Guwahati: The city based scribes maintain good health as most of them have performed well in a recent blood screening camp conducted by Assam’s celebrated healthcare institute Dispur Hospitals. Nearly 80 scribes, age limit from 30 to 60 years, participated in the free camp, where their blood samples were collected to test thyroid, haemoglobin and sugar. Only 11 scribes were diagnosed with high thyroid stimulating hormone (more than 7 milli-international units per liter or mIU/L), where four participants were with low haemoglobin (less than 12 gm/dl) and five with high random blood sugar (more than 140 mg/dl), said a statement from Guwahati Press Club, where the camp was organized last week...
GUWAHATI: Tasked with protecting wildlife, foresters often try to cover up their inefficiency and corruption by terrorizing indigenous people inhabiting areas near forests. But without taking these people into confidence, it is impossible to preserve forests and wildlife. Expanding on this issue, Sophie Grigg, Senior Research and Advocacy Officer, Survival International, said that merely arming forest guards with sophisticated weaponry actually complicates the conservation effort. She was addressing city-based scribes from London through video conferencing as part of Guwahati Press Club’s ‘Meet the Press’ programme. Referring to Kaziranga national park, Ms Grigg however claimed that while a...
Guwahati: Journalism is a service to society and the nation. Anyone wanting to make money should not be in the profession. Only those who have the flair, the passion and the right attributes should enter, for only such people can take on the challenges and survive in the long run,” said Sashi Nair, Director of the Press Institute of India and Editor of its journals, Vidura and Grassroots, while addressing the ‘Meet the Press’ programme of Guwahati Press Club on Friday. While stressing the watchdog role of Press Council of India to ensure ethics and quality in news presentation, Nair agreed that the PCI’s ambit could be expanded to include electronic and online or social media as well...
AASU activists thronging in thousands in Dispur on Thursday in Protest against the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Guwahati: Pakistan’s well-known journalist, broadcaster, expert on policy advocacy, strategic and corporate communications, Munir Ahmed will interact with the member-journalists of Guwahati Press Club (GPC) on Friday. The proactive journalist will be available through video conferencing from Islamabad between 3 and 5 pm (Indian time) on November 9, 2018. A regular contributor to Daily Times, radio and participant to programs of PTV and other national news channels, Ahmed inspired the authority to adopt Pakistan’s first ever National Conservation Strategy, National Housing Policy, National Environment Protection Act, National Sustainable Development Strategy etc. He is the founder of...
  GUWAHATI: The Kamrup Police have arrested three persons in connection with the murder of senior State Bank India (SBI) official Junu Sarma.Police in a pre-dawn raid on Sunday arrested the three persons–Putul Ali alias Saddam Hussain, Sunil Kumar Mishra and Pranab Kalita from different places.While Putul alias Saddam is a loan recovery agent, Mishra is an official of SBI’s Dadara branch. Pranab, who was detained by police for questioning after the incident, is a driver of the vehicle of bank official Sarma.The arrested accused persons were produced in the Kamrup CJM’s court, which sent them to 14-day police custody.The 56-year-old woman official of SBI’s Dadara branch was shot dead...