Enlightenment Movement (Afghanistan)
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| Established | 2016  (9 years ago) |
|---|---|
| Founders | Hazaras |
| Founded at | Kabul |
| Types | voluntary association |
| Aim | human rights |
The Enlightenment Movement or Junbesh-e Roshnayi (Dari: جنبش روشنایی)[1] is a grassroots civil disobedience movement of Hazaras created in 2016 in Afghanistan in response to the Afghan government's change in routing plans for proposed international electricity networking, which was perceived as continuing historical anti-Hazara discrimination. The group organised major protests in Afghanistan and internationally during 2016 and 2017,[2] protesting against discrimination. The group's youthful leadership challenged traditional Hazara leaders for representativity of the community.[3][1][4]
Nonviolent resistance movements in Afghanistan include Khudai Khidmatgar, which held long-term campaigns of nonviolent resistance to the British colonial government in the 1930s, and the Tabassum movement in November 2015,[5] in which massive, multiethnic, protests with women playing significant roles took place in Kabul and across Afghanistan in protest against the execution of seven Hazaras by a group claiming association with Islamic State.[6][7][8]
Creation
In 2016, Hazaras in Afghanistan and in the Hazara diaspora, especially students and academics, started coordinating in small groups to oppose the continued persecution of Hazara people.[3] The Central Asian Energy Supply Improvement Investment Program (commonly known as TUTAP for Turkmenistan–Uzbekistan–Tajikistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan) was initially planned to pass through Bamyan Province, where it would have benefited many Hazaras, a major component of the population. Rumours of government plans to shift the route away from Bamyan Province circulated in January 2016, and a first protest was held in Bamyan on 9 January 2016.[1] In a non-public session on 30 April 2016, the Afghan government shifted the proposed route to Salang Pass instead, arguing that this was economically justified. Hazaras disagreed, seeing the change as ethnic discrimination that would deprive them of the chance at equalising their access to resources. Protests started in early May in Bamyan and other cities around Afghanistan. Two thousand Hazaras met in western Kabul in Mosala of Shahid Mazari and decided to coordinate under the name Enlightenment Movement.[3]