Share this story!            

Afghanistan’s ‘land of light’ hopes for tourism but darkness remains

By Emmanuel Duparcq

Nuristan is trying to overcome a special reputation for insecurity and backwardness in a country that is already one of the poorest and most volatile on earth

“IT’S paradise. You can go hiking, fishing, rafting, birdwatching in winter you can ski,” boasts Mohammed Tamim Nuristani, the new governor of Afghanistan’s remote Nuristan province.

Set in the shadow of the mighty Hindu Kush mountain range and comprising a network of scenic valleys dotted with wooden huts, the province certainly looks the part for a rugged wilderness holiday.

After 25 years of war and superpower invasions, there has been much talk recently that parts of Afghanistan are now ready to welcome back the adventure tourists who used to flock there in the 1970s.

“All the tribes would be happy to see tourists, to see hotels being built, the province developing and poverty declining,” says Gulam Qader, a preacher at a mosque in Waygal, in central Nuristan.

But while planeloads of foreign visitors would undoubtedly be a boost for the central Asian nation of Afghanistan, the lengths it has to go before any travellers actually do return is nowhere better illustrated than in Nuristan.

The province still struggles to win even the most basic facilities for its own people – let alone for tourists – symbolising both the hurdles faced by those trying to rebuild Afghanistan and their determination in facing them.

Tucked away in Afghanistan’s far northeast, Nuristan is trying to overcome a special reputation for insecurity and backwardness in a country that is already one of the poorest and most volatile on earth.

This partly derives from its unique history. Previously known as Kafiristan – land of the infidels – it was the last part of Afghanistan to convert to Islam, at the end of the 19th century. From then on it was dubbed “the land of light” to mark the symbolic end of pagan “darkness”.

Other Afghans have remained snobby about it ever since.

In the villages of Nuristan, they denounce the “propaganda” coming from the authorities in Kabul and what they say is a destabilisation campaign orchestrated by the neighbouring provinces of Kunar and Laghman.

“They don’t want us to be a strong province or for us to profit from our natural resources,” complains Mohammed Ibrahim, police chief of the central district of Want. Officials in the province say its supposed security problems are a myth, and attacks are still rare in Nuristan, particularly compared with eastern and southern Afghanistan where around 1,000 people have died this year during a resurgence by fighters loyal to the ousted Taliban regime.

The only exception is Kamdesh district, which shares the instability of many regions along the border with Pakistan.

Nuristan’s police chief, Abdul Baqi Nuristani, admits there are problems in Kamdesh. “But there are no problems with the other five districts of the province,” he says.

Nuristan has also been considered a breeding ground for the radical Islam of former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He heads the fundamentalist Hezb-i-Islami guerrilla faction, which Afghan officials often accuse of having links with the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban overthrown with the help of US-led forces in 2001 and who continue to launch attacks in the country.

Hekmatyar is wanted by the US for his attempts to destabilise President Hamid Karzai’s US-backed government and for alleged human rights violations.

But these days he has no influence because the villages want peace, say several local district chiefs.

There has been some violence, though. In May 2004, two Britons and an Afghan working on preparations for the country’s presidential elections last year were killed in Mandol district, in the west of the province.

“But they created the problem themselves, particularly by refusing to travel with the authorities,” says the provincial police chief. Since then, aid agencies have not employed full-time foreigners in the area, mainly for security reasons.

“Non-governmental organisations have become a potential target for those who wish to destabilise the country,” explains a Western worker with one of the few agencies still working with local staff in Nuristan. The worker did not want to be named for security reasons. The Afghan Non-governmental Security Office continues to recommend “extreme caution” to NGOs in the region, while admitting that it lacks information on the current situation on the ground.

Nuristanis desperately want international aid to allow them to build the remaining 25 kilometres (15 miles) missing from the main highway towards the capital and the centre of the country. “That would get rid of one of our biggest problems: currently the only way into Nuristan is from the east, which passes through Kunar and is considered very dangerous. That discourages people from coming to visit,” says the governor.

Kunar has seen some of the worst Taliban violence in recent months. In June, the rebels shot down a US helicopter, killing all 16 American service members on board. They also shot dead three US commandos who were waiting for the chopper to rescue them. Another brake on development is rivalries between local villages.

The completion of the road between Want district and nearby Waygal, which would finally allow the locals to transport goods by means other than by foot or on the back of a donkey, is blocked by a row over water supply. afp

Home | Foreign

Share this story!