The Tabassum movement (Dari: جنبش تبسم, Junbesh-e Tabasum[1]) was a grassroots protest movement in Afghanistan that held several protests in Kabul and other Afghan cities in mid-November 2015, following the execution by an armed opposition group of nine-year-old Shukria Tabassum and six other Hazaras around 9 November 2015.[2][3][4] The protests were ethnically diverse, had strong participation and leadership by women,[5][1] and the organisational structure avoided concentration of leadership.[6]
Background
editNonviolent resistance movements in Afghanistan include Khudai Khidmatgar, which held long-term campaigns of nonviolent resistance to the British colonial government in the 1930s.[7]
Zabul executions and first protest
editThe trigger event for the creation of the Tabassum movement was hostage taking by a group claiming allegiance to the Islamic State in October 2015 and the execution of seven of the hostages, Hazaras, around 9 November 2015.[2][3][8] One of the victims was Shukria Tabassum, a nine-year-old girl.[9][4]
In reaction, on 11 November 2015, 2,000–20,000[4][8] protestors marched 10 km (6.2 mi) through Kabul carrying the coffins of the seven victims to the presidential palace, Arg. The marchers said that president Ashraf Ghani had failed to provide security, called for his government to resign and chanted slogans including "Death to the Taliban" and "Death to the Islamic State". Ghani appeared on television 10 hours later and negotiations were held between some of the protestors and officials on the protestors' demands for improved security measures.[4] According to Martine van Bijlert, the protestors who negotiated with the authorities were later rejected as unrepresentative of the larger group. The protest organisers held a press conference presenting their demands on 12 November.[5]
The 11 November protest was self-managed and calm, with human chains formed at the sides of the march to leave pavements available for non-participating pedestrians.[4]
Later protests
editSeveral demonstrations with similar demands calling for improved security took place around Afghanistan in the days following the 11 November Kabul protest.[5][1][6]
Membership
editThe 11 November 2015 Kabul protest included a large component of Hazaras together with other Afghans from diverse demographic groups, with the Zabul executions being seen as "not an attack on one group but on the whole nation".[5][1] Tabassum organisers, including Khadim Karimi, contacted activists of non-Hazara ethnic groups to encourage them to participate together in the protests.[10]
Women's participation
editWomen were highly active in the Tabassum protests in big numbers.[1] The 11 November Kabul march included a "large group of women [at] the front of the demonstration"[5] and women carrying one of the coffins.[11]
Gender researcher Nazifa Alizada saw women's participation in the Tabassum movement as deliberately being present and active in public, chanting slogans alongside male marchers, organising and leading the protests, and participating in the negotiations with Ghani that followed the 11 November march. Alizada saw women's involvement in the Tabassum movement as a causal factor for a strong leadership role in the Enlightenment Movement of protest actions that took place during 2016–2017.[1]
Alizada objected to patriarchal language, with women protesting in Nangarhar with posters stating "Hazara and Pashtun are brothers" (Dari: هزاره و پشتون برادر, Hazara wa Pashtun baradar) and pamphlets in Kabul addressing potential participants as "brother".[1]
Methods
editThe Tabassum movement was a grassroots movement with "collective decision-making processes" that avoided charismatic leadership centred on powerful individuals.[6]
Effects
editThe Tabassum movement was seen as leading to the 2016–2017 Enlightenment Movement and the 2017 Uprising for Change.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Alizada, Nazifa (30 November 2016). "One Year After Tabassum, Afghan Women Search for Their Own Voice". Women and Girls. News Deeply. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021 – via The New Humanitarian.
- ^ a b Mashal, Mujib; Shah, Taimoor (9 November 2015). "Afghan Fighters Loyal to ISIS Beheaded 7 Hostages, Officials Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b "UNAMA condemns murder of seven civilians in Zabul" (Press release). United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. 11 November 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Mashal, Mujib (11 November 2015). "Protest in Kabul for More Security after Seven Hostages Are Beheaded". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e van Bijlert, Martine (12 November 2015). "The 'Zabul Seven' Protests: Who speaks for the victims?". afghanistan-analysts.org. Afghanistan Analysts Network. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d Bose, Srinjoy; Bizhan, Nematullah; Ibrahimi, Niamatullah (February 2019). Youth Protest Movements in Afghanistan: Seeking Voice and Agency (PDF) (Report). Peaceworks. Vol. 145. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace. ISBN 978-1-60127-753-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Stephan, Maria J. (23 July 2019). "People Power Can Boost the Afghan Peace Process". The Olive Branch. United States Institute of Peace. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Insurgents Kidnap Over 20 Bus Passengers In Zabul". TOLOnews. 21 November 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Younas, Mohammad (15 November 2015). "Shukria Tabassum". hazarapeople.com. Hazara International. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ Zia, Mohammad Ehsan; Thompson, Tabatha (7 May 2020). "Afghan Grassroots Activists Could Help Build a Lasting Peace". The Olive Branch. United States Institute of Peace. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "Afghan Hazara killings spark Kabul march of thousands". BBC News. 11 November 2015. Archived from the original on 11 November 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2021.