Tabassum movement

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The Tabassum movement (Dari: 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 organizational structure avoided concentration of leadership.[6]

Background[]

Nonviolent 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[]

Main articles: Shukria Tabassum and 2015 Zabul beheading

The trigger event for the creation of the Tabassum movement was hostage taking by a group claiming allegiance to 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, 2000[4]–20,000[8] protestors marched 10 km through Kabul carrying the coffins of the seven victims to the presidential palace. 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 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[]

Several 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[]

The 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[]

Women 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: Hazara wa Pashtun baradar and) and pamphlets in Kabul addressing potential participants as "brother".[1]

Methods[]

The Tabassum movement was a grassroots movement with "collective decision-making processes" that avoided charismatic leadership centred on powerful individuals.[6]

Effects[]

The Tabassum movement was seen as leading to the 2016–2017 Enlightenment Movement and the 2017 Uprising for Change.[6]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Alizada, Nazifa (2016-11-30). "One Year After Tabassum, Afghan Women Search for Their Own Voice". The New Humanitarian. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  2. ^ a b Mashal, Mujib; Shah, Taimoor (2015-11-09). "Afghan Fighters Loyal to ISIS Beheaded 7 Hostages, Officials Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-01-13. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  3. ^ a b "UNAMA condemns murder of seven civilians in Zabul". UNAMA. 2015-11-11. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  4. ^ a b c d e Mashal, Mujib (2015-11-11). "Protest in Kabul for More Security after Seven Hostages Are Beheaded". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  5. ^ a b c d e van Bijlert, Martine (2015-11-12). "The 'Zabul Seven' Protests: Who speaks for the victims?". Afghanistan Analysts. Archived from the original on 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  6. ^ a b c d Bose, Srinjoy; Bizhan, Nematullah; Ibrahimi, Niamatullah (2019). "Youth Protest Movements in Afghanistan – seeking voice and agency" (PDF). . USIP. 145. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  7. ^ Stephan, Maria J. (2019-07-23). "People Power Can Boost the Afghan Peace Process". USIP. Archived from the original on 2021-06-05. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  8. ^ a b "Insurgents Kidnap Over 20 Bus Passengers In Zabul". TOLOnews. 2015-11-21. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  9. ^ Younas, Mohammad. "Shukria Tabassum". Hazara International. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  10. ^ Zia, Mohammad Ehsan; Thompson, Tabatha (2020-05-07). "Afghan Grassroots Activists Could Help Build a Lasting Peace". USIP. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  11. ^ "Afghan Hazara killings spark Kabul march of thousands". BBC News. 2015-11-11. Archived from the original on 2015-11-11. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
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