A Deconstruction of the ‘Newsweek’ Riots

I’m racking my brain, index finger sturdily resting on my chin, head tilting to the right. Can you recall any riots and killings throughout U.S. history that we might share with our First Lady?”

“KENT STATE just for starters…The Civil War? The labor riots? The Haymarket Riots? The civil rights movement?”

The demonstrations which originally started in the eastern province of Ningarhar, spread throughout the country. In Kabuk, Kapisa and Takhar, the protests were calm and ended peacefully. But in Ningarhar, Wardak and Logar, the protests turned violent.

In my point of view the enemy’s hand was behind the destruction and casualties. The people came to protest against the Holy Koran desecration, but there were some enemy among the people, who destroyed government and civilian property. I condemn the desecration of the Holy Koran, but I also condemn the destruction. People have a right to demonstrate, but not to destroy and cause problems for civilians and government.

I hope the government investigates to identify the “enemies of peace and stability” who are allegedly behind the violence, including the attack on the Pakistani consulate. Also, people in Ningarhar, Badakhshan and Gazni provinces have not ruled out the interference of mercenaries and said armed men from inside the protestors opened fire on police and law enforcement agencies. The enemies of Afghanistan should not take the recent demonstrations as a big acheivment for themselves. These violent protests do not reflect their popularity among Afghan people because none of the Afghan participants in the demonstration took part for their own sake.

I think the demonstrations in some parts of Afghanistan were conducted by the Taliban, who turned it into violence because they still hide in some provinces. The worst violence happened in Ghazni and Ningarhar, and Taliban insurgents are hidden in these provinces. But they dont have influence in Kabul. In the northern provinces therefore, the demonstrations were more calm, and patriotic Afghans peacefuly participated in the rallies and expressed their dislike of those culprits who insulted their religion by desecrating the Holy Koran. They didn’t come to murder and damage their own property.

In Khogyani district, 33 km east of Jalalabad, and Chak district (Maidan Wardak), police opened fire at demonstrators, causing the casualties. Malik Tahir Khan, a tribal elder of Khogyani, said two people were killed and one injured in police firing.

But Nangarhar Governor Haji Din Mohammad, who denied any killing in the firing incident, said: “Two protestors were injured when police fired into air to disperse the mob. Employing peaceful means, we are trying to cope with the situation,” he added.

Speaking to Pajhwok, Governor Din Mohammad blamed the violence on saboteurs who played upon people’s religious sentiments. “Nangarhar’s people just wanted to hold a peaceful protest but some anti-Afghanistan elements provoked them into violence, causing a trail of destruction.”

In the Chak district, eyewitnesses claimed, one student was killed while nine others were hurt in police firing. Syed Azam, a student at Hazrat Farooq High School, identified the victim as Hamidullah. Nine of his colleagues were injured.

But Interior Ministry spokesman Dad Mohammad Rasa was unaware of the killing. “We have sent a delegation to the area for investigations. At the moment, I have no information in this regard,” he said.

The protesters slammed police for resorting to firing and causing bloodshed. “We were staging a peaceful demonstration but police started firing at us without any provocation,” Mohammad Mohsin charged.

After five days of anti-American protests that left 14 people dead, Afghan officials charged Saturday that outside forces had hijacked many of the demonstrations in a bid to destabilize the government.

The officials said anti-government factions used the protests, which erupted over a report that Americans at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba had desecrated the Koran, to incite people already leery of U.S. policies in Afghanistan.

Haji Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Ghazni province, where one police officer and three protesters were killed during riots Friday, blamed the unrest on the forces of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a renegade warlord who is wanted by the U.S. government for planning attacks on American troops and the Afghan government.

Hekmatyar is believed to be hiding in northern Pakistan, and his loyalists are active in several southern provinces, including Lowgar, Wardak and Nangarhar — all of which experienced violent demonstrations last week. “Hekmatyar’s forces are active in some of the key provinces that have had violent protests,” the Ghazni governor said.

“After we heard the news on local radio stations, we gathered students at the nearby mosque and elected 26 people to plan a peaceful protest for the next day,” said Fazil Mileallah, a fourth-year medical student and an organizer of the Jalalabad protest.

In their bid to disperse the demonstrators, according to Afghan sources, the US-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and local police opened fire injuring over 50 persons including a lady on the spot, and of these four have succumbed to their injuries at hospital.

“Afghan policemen and troops, together with some American forces, eventually quelled the riots, but not before opening fire on protesters, who numbered in the thousands, residents said.

Several protesters were reportedly killed and some 50 wounded in Jalalabad when Afghan police, backed by U.S. troops, opened fire to control rioting students angered at the alleged abuse of Islam’s holy book at a U.S. terrorist suspect facility in Cuba.

From Jalalabad, RFE/RL’s Afghan Service correspondent Dawood Wafa said the protests started around 8 a.m. local time at the medical faculty of the city’s university. Wafa said police opened fire after demonstrators started throwing stones at homes, cars, and offices.

Fazel Mohammad Ibrahimi, head of the provincial health department, said four protesters were killed and 50 wounded after Afghan police, backed by U.S. troops, opened fire in a bid to control rioting. But other sources are quoted as saying as two or three protesters were killed.

Thousands of the Afghans protested against US-led coalition forces house to house search operation here at Nangarhar and demanded government to stop the operation, VoA reports.

Report said that large number of people of Khuziana district marched towards the provincial capital and protested against the coalition forces operation. They demanded of the coalition forces to halt their ongoing house to house to search in the district. Locals told VoA that border security commander Zinullah Amin, former Nangarhar security commander and eight local residents had been arrested in the operation.

Meanwhile, Nangarhar Governor Haji Din Muhammad said his provincial administration discussed the issue with the central government and the coalition forces officials. He said he informed higher authorities about the problems of the masses in this regard. Governor said it would create a lot of problems if the coalition forces continued their search operation without consulting the government.

Wahid Mojhdeh, a political analyst in Kabul, said tensions already existed in eastern Afghanistan between the local population and U.S.-led coalition forces. He said the allegations over the Koran simply inflamed those forces.

“A few weeks ago in several districts in the east of Afghanistan, coalition forces had entered people’s houses without permission,” Mojhdeh said. “Such [tensions] existed there, and after the news about the desecration of the Koran in Guantanamo was published by [the press], the [discontent] that existed was transformed into action and led to the violent demonstration. That was one reason [for the trouble], and also the inexperience of police and security forces in eastern Afghanistan should be mentioned.”