HYDERABAD : They have seen the worst days under Taliban. Their voices were muted for long. But that phase having come to an end, the youth of Afghanistan are now breathing the air of freedom.

 

This freedom has also given them courage to voice their opinion on a wide range of issues ranging from education and gender to democracy and Pakistan ’s role in their country.

 

The nine-member Afghani delegation, which is here to attend the YES Regional Forum, is led by Wahida Sahil Swiss Development and Cooperation, a Swiss based NGO working in close cooperation with the interim government in Kabul .

 

Talking to The Times of India, Namatullahi Elahi, working for Afghanistan Youth Centre, said education had been the biggest casualty his country under the Taliban rule.

 

“We have eight universities, but education levels are abysmally low, thanks to long spell of infighting,” he said. He could get a degree in philosophy and comparative religion from International Islamic University, Islamabad .

 

Elahi looks at the interim government with hope, as he says it is willing to work with NGOs to support youngsters. He is of the strong opinion that Afghanistan should adopt a model of democracy that could accommodate the hopes and aspirations of all ethnic groups and tribes.

 

“We are a country of classical moorings. We can not straight away adopt Western model. Though there are some scholars in Afghanistan who are pitching in for Presidential rule, the majority are in favour of parliamentary democracy. We can learn from the Indian model which is certainly the best in Asia ,” Elahi said.

 

Fatima Hussainie, 21, studying law and political science at the Kabul University said that the two decades of war forced her parents take shelter in Iran where she had schooling and later higher studies in Pakistan . Working now as a broadcaster with ‘Good Morning Afghanistan’ radio station, Fatima is concerned at the orthodox views men have towards Afghanistan women.

 

“Yes, there is certainly a change.Women are no longer compelled to wear the burkha. But men largely still think that a women approaching them and talking to them is not of a good character,” she said. She is also worried at the knowledge gap that the Afghani students were experiencing in universities and colleges.

 

“The teachers themselves are products of the Taliban era. The libraries are short of books. There is no access to new books. We badly need some scholarships, so that some students can go abroad and catch up with the latest and we look at India with great hope,” she said.