Afghan Students Join HKS Group

Harvard Law School student Saeeq Shajjan came to the United States seeking an education that would allow him to make a tangible difference in his home country of Afghanistan.

The same is true for Adela Raz, a masters student at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, who says she hopes that her studies in the United States will provide her with a fresh perspective on how to change policies in her native Afghanistan.

Mariam Jalalzada, also a Fletcher School student, harbors ambitious goals as well—she says she hopes to use the skills learned at Tufts to form an educational institute for Afghan women.

Yet during much of their time as students in the Boston area, they found few opportunities to discuss contemporary issues surrounding Afghanistan with their fellow countrymen and women. The Afghan student population in Boston is small—Harvard currently enrolls only two Afghan students at the Harvard Kennedy School and two at the Law School.

But the formation of The Afghan Students Initiative at the Kennedy School last October has created a small but passionate community allowing these individuals to share their concerns about their homeland, students say.

“Before ASI, there was no formal organization where we could bring together Afghan students,” Jalalzada says. “This was the first time we all came together.”

NEW GROUP, NEW PERSPECTIVES

The Afghan Students Initiative was the brainchild of Nathaniel Y. Walton, the program’s current project manager, and Jasteena Dhillon, an associate fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. The two say they originally aimed to further the discussion on Afghanistan as the United States’ involvement in the region continues.

“The idea was to bring Afghan voices to the debate about Afghanistan,” Walton says. “We thought it would be really important to tap into the great resource of Afghan students here in Boston.”

During its first few meetings, the group identified some specific goals concerning foreign policy and human rights issues.

Dhillon says she viewed the founding of the Afghan Students Initiative as a new opportunity to open up a dialogue on these subjects.

Already active in the Carr Center’s State Building and Human Rights program, which focuses on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Dhillon says she sought to utilize the group to promote Afghan students’ involvement in the foreign policy debate.

The group plans to respond actively to policymakers and interest groups discussing issues in Afghanistan.

In addition, Walton says, the group seeks to publish a journal that will consist of essays addressing the future of Afghanistan as well as its position within diplomatic discussions.

“With all the attention that Afghanistan is getting within the United States, [and] as a fellow in the program, I thought that [the Afghan Students Initiative] would be a great way to provide space and support for the students,” Dhillon says.

THE VOICES OF CHANGE

Students in the Afghan Students Initiative say that joining the group has exposed them to a variety of new viewpoints on the issues that they care about most.

“We have students from so many different backgrounds looking at [their] country from different perspectives,” Jalalzada says. “I think everyone who has an opinion is valuable.”

In order to more effectively foster dialogue and debate, the Afghan Students Initiative has hosted guest speakers at all of its meetings. These lectures included discussions of current research on Afghan affairs by Carr Center fellows such as David Mansfield, Michael Semple, and Paul D. Fishstein.

More recently, however, the group has welcomed Afghan scholars. One of the most notable speakers to address the group was Ahmad Nader Nadery, a commissioner in the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

“Our goal is to engage in dialogues with [the speakers] to make them sure of what Afghan thinking really is,” says Shajjan, emphasizing the mutual exchange of ideas between the students and their guests.

Arthur N. Pont, another fellow involved with the State Building and Human Rights program who spoke at a meeting, says that he enjoyed his conversations on current events with the Afghan students.

“Speaking with the students provides for a much richer and more grounded debate about the issues in Afghanistan,” Pont says. “[The students] have definitely been a benefit to those fellows that have met with them.”

A PROMISING FUTURE

Many members of the Afghan Students Initiative mention plans to return to Afghanistan after their stints in American universities.

Shajjan says he expects to go back home this coming June after he graduates from the Law School, with the hope of finding a job in the Afghan government where he can champion human rights issues.

Though Jalalzada says she is unsure when she will return to Afghanistan, she has focused her studies on economic development and says she is also “very interested” in issues affecting Afghan women.

“My ultimate goal is to create an institution where women would come and learn skills that would earn and generate income for them,” Jalalzada says.

While she has long been passionate about women’s issues in the county, Jalalzada says that being involved with the Afghan Students Initiative has refined her aspirations.

The group has exposed her to different ways of thinking, she says, giving her new ideas on how to accomplish her goals.

Raz says she has left her future prospects more open, but adds that she believes in the potential of the group’s members as they enter their future careers.

“[The Afghan Students Initiative] helps to shape our vision for the future of Afghanistan,” Raz says. “It encourages me about the future of our country because I have a hope that these students will make a change for Afghanistan.”

These ambitions are typical of the students who participate in the Afghan Students Initiative, Dhillon says.

“These students are bringing knowledge to the development of Afghanistan, not force,” Dhillon says. “They are highly motivated, highly educated young Afghans who want to try to use their experiences in a positive way to move forward into the future.”

—Staff writer Andrew Z. Lorey can be reached at alorey@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: April 3, 2010

An earlier version of the April 1 news article "Afghan Students Join HKS Group" incorrectly stated that Harvard Law School currently enrolls only one Afghan student. In fact, there are currently two Afghan students at HLS, according to HLS student Saeeq Shajjan.