AFGHANS VOTE AMID TALIBAN ATTACKS
Voting to be extended in districts where polling stations were closed
Insurgent attacks and logistical problems in Afghanistan forced yesterday’s parliamentary elections into a second day at some centres, with at least five explosions in Kabul alone.
There were other attacks in polling stations across Afghanistan. Despite peace negotiations with the US administration last week, the Taliban had called for a boycott of the elections and ordered their fighters to attack voting centres and security forces.
Power lines taking electricity from Tajikistan to the northern provinces were hit, affecting a voting process that relied on electronic biometric equipment.
Taliban fighters blocked road and highways in areas under their control, denying voters access to polling stations. Members also kidnapped election workers in the north, reports say.
Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s Chief Executive, criticised the Taliban’s attempt to sabotage the elections.
“Our enemies do not want the country to have leadership elected by the people and so they seek to bar people to participate in the election,” Dr Abdullah said at the end of first day of polling.
Security was not the only concern for many Afghans. Questions were also raised by the Electoral Complaints Commission over the transparency of the elections.
Ali Rouhani, a spokesman for the commission, pointed to shortcomings in the electoral process including biometric systems that did not work and observers who were not granted access or were mistreated.
“The Complaints Commission were also denied access,” to unspecified polling stations, Mr Rouhani claimed.
The head of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission acknowledged mistakes.
“There were ups and downs in today’s elections,” Abdul Badi Sayyad said last night. “Many of the officials were unable to reach the polling centre due to threats from Taliban.
Logistical and technical issues hampered and delayed voting in many provinces, Mr Sayyad said. Polling in many stations was extended as a result, and in some cases would continue today.
“In the centres where materials weren’t derived or employees didn’t show, elections will be held tomorrow,” he said.
There were 371 polling centres that were closed yesterday and they would also be open today, Mr Sayyad said.
Despite the security threats, Afghans turned out in relatively large numbers to vote in the first parliamentary elections in eight years.
By midday, about two million out of 8.8 million eligible voters had cast their ballots. Kabul had the highest voter turnout in the country as of last night.
The relatively high turnout was a sign of the country’s increasing autonomy, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said.
“These elections were the first completely run by Afghan authorities since 2001 and are an important milestone in Afghanistan’s transition to self-reliance,” the mission said.
The UN body urged electoral authorities to “redouble their efforts to make sure all eligible voters are given a reasonable opportunity to cast their ballot”.
The extension of voting hours was welcomed by voters who had been unable to cast their ballots. Mohammad Qurban, a citizen from Tala wa Barfak in Baghlan province said he had made several unsuccessful attempts to vote at the only open polling station in his district,
Afghanistan’s Hindu and Sikh communities came out in full strength yesterday to vote in parliamentary elections, despite their candidate being killed this year.
For the first time since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, these two minorities voted to elect a member to the lower house. A presidential decree in 2016 allotted a parliamentary seat to the communities that they would hold jointly.
“This is our chance to put our representative in parliament,” said Ram Prakash, a Hindu businessman from Kabul.
Their candidate, Narendra Singh Khalsa, is the son of original nominee Avtar Singh Khalsa who was killed in Jalalabad by a suicide bomber in July.
That blast also killed 17 other members of the dwindling religious minorities.
“The community is still recovering from the tragedy but we have to continue to move forward together,” Mr Khalsa told The National. “This is that opportunity for us to seek our rights as Afghans.
“Of course we are sad and upset, just like any Afghan is these days. We are faced with difficult times whether we are Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims.”
“Many more Hindus and Sikhs left after that attack,” Mr Prakash said. “I don’t know the exact figures but around 700 to 800 Hindus and Sikhs remain in the country.”
He said he hoped to end discrimination against the minority communities.
“A lot of Afghans are not aware of our history in the nation building of this country. They often think we have come from Pakistan or India. But we are natives of Afghanistan,” he said.
Despite official political representation and freedom of worship, many face prejudice, harassment and violence from militant groups, forcing thousands to move to India.
India has issued long-term visas to Sikhs and Hindus coming from Afghanistan.
There are fewer than 300 families in Afghanistan’s Sikh community, which has only two gurdwaras, or places of worship, in Jalalabad and the capital, Kabul.
Although almost entirely a Muslim country, Afghanistan was home to as many as 250,000 Sikhs and Hindus before the devastating civil war in the 1990s.
Even a decade ago, the US State Department said about 3,000 Sikhs and Hindus still lived there. Today most are based in Kabul and Jalalabad, with a small community in Ghazni.
“Every one of us in Kabul and Jalalabad came out to vote. However, our brothers in Ghazni couldn’t vote because of the issues there,” Mr Prakash said, referring to the delay in the elections in the central Afghan province because of its security and political situation.
The province was besieged for five days by Taliban militants in August and the situation remains tense.
Like most Afghans, Sikhs and Hindus’ voting experience was affected by logistical and security issues.
“Many of our names didn’t appear in the lists,” Mr Prakash said, adding that some families who registered together found only some of their relatives on the list. “We were disappointed with how it was managed.”
We have been given this opportunity to participate in the government. If we don’t look after ourselves, who will look after us? RAM PRAKASH Hindu businessman
He said he was confident that of the small but deep-rooted Afghan communities were committed to putting their representative into government.
“The Afghan Hindus who remain are those who can’t leave because they are too poor,” Mr Prakash said.
“But today is significant for us because even if we can’t leave for safety, at least we can ensure that our representative is part of the government.
“He will be our voice in the establishment and will ensure that our rights and our identities are protected, because we are also Afghans and we should have a say in the government.”
Being the only minority candidate running for a seat, Mr Khalsa is likely to secure his place in the 249-member House of the People, the lower house of Afghanistan’s parliament.
Even so, the democratic process and voting remain important to Afghanistan’s Hindus and Sikhs.
“We have been given this opportunity to participate in the government,” Mr Prakash said. “If we don’t take it now, we will forever remain marginalised. If we don’t look after ourselves, who will look after us?”