There’s a new face on Sesame Street - a sassy Afghan puppet girl called Zari and she has an important message for the country's little girls.
Zari, whose name means “shimmering”, has made her television debut in Afghanistan, on a local production of Sesame Street called Baghch-e-Simsim
"Zari is female because we thought it was really important to emphasise the fact that a little girl could do as much as everybody else. So that's why a girl was a key factor in promoting empowerment and girls' education in Afghanistan," program manager Clemence Quint told AP.
The sassy, six-year-old puppet will wear a traditional headscarf. Her costumes will also incorporate fabrics and designs from all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups.
Zari is brought to life by Afghan puppeteer Mansoora Shirzad. She wished young viewers a happy World Peace Day and happy International Children's Day for an upcoming episode.
Afghanistan is still an impoverished country. Formal education is limited for many children, including prejudices against education for girls.
Two production houses worked together with Afghanistan's education ministry to develop the special Muppet .
(the story so far, I could have the facts wrong but I believe this is true) This family insisted on using a safety harness for their child which did not comply with the aircraft or airline or flight regulation safety rules. Because of this, they were asked to leave the flight. Now, someone please explain to me what does this have to do with religion???? NOTHING! They were not kicked off of the flight because of the way they look, or because of their religion. Why make false accusations??? UGH! If I got kicked off of a flight for the exact same reason (child safety harness) could I accuse them of kicking me off of the plane because I am Caucasian or because i'm Christian??? Apparently I can because this family claimed the same thing (race and religion).
So... someone please prove to me that this has ANYTHING to do with religion. Proof. Not accusations, not generalizations, not theories.
Family says they were kicked off United Airlines flight because they are Arab-American
A suburban Chicago family of five says they were kicked off of a United Airlines flight because they are Arab-American.
Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley, her husband and their three young kids were told they had to get off a flight from O’Hare International to Washington, D.C., because of a “safety of flight issue.”
The mother posted a video of her interactions with the plane’s crew on Facebook, and said that “Shame on you #unitedAirlines for profiling my family and me for no reason other than how we look.”
She said the incident started when she asked a flight attendant about a harness for her child’s safety seat, and the video shows a flight attendant asking her "what's going on?"
Saad Shebley says before a man who appears to be the pilot comes and decides to kick her and her family off the aircraft.
FACEBOOKEnlargeEAMAN-AMY SAAD SHEBLEY VIA FACEBOOKEnlarge
Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley says she and her family were kicked off of a flight because they are Arab-American, though crew aboard the aircraft said that the family was booted for a "safety of flight" issue.
Her video has been viewed more than 1,500,000 times and shared on Facebook more than 30,000.
United Airlines said in a statement to WDIV that the family was removed from the planet “because of concerns about their child’s safety seat, which did not comply with federal safety regulations,” and that they were put on a later flight.
However, the family filed a complaint with the Council on American-Islamic Relations about the matter.
CAIR’s Dawud Walid said, “Unfortunately there’s a growing problem on airlines of Muslims being removed from flights when they cause no reasonable security concerns.”
Image captionPolice in Khatlon say they have shaved the beards of nearly 13,000 men (file photo)
"They called me a Salafist, a radical, a public enemy. And then two of them held my arms while another one shaved half of my beard."
Djovid Akramov says he was stopped by Tajik police outside his house, along with his seven-year-old son, last month - and taken to the police station in Dushanbe where he was forcibly shaved.
He became one of hundreds of thousands of men in Tajikistan arrested in recent years for wearing a beard.
Shaving beards is part of a government campaign targeting trends that are deemed "alien and inconsistent with Tajik culture".
Earlier this week, police in Tajikistan's Khatlon region said that they had shaved the beards of nearly 13,000 men as part of an "anti-radicalisation campaign".
The BBC spoke to nine other men who described similar experiences - being detained in the street and forcibly taken to the police department or a barber shop, where they were shaved.
The government campaign is explained by the need to fight radicalisation, amid fears that Central Asia might follow the path of countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria towards extremism.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionWomen have been told to wear traditional Tajik colours - not black
Estimates suggest that between 1,500 and 4,000 Central Asians could have joined different Islamist militant groups in Syria, as of June 2015.
The move against beards is seen as part of a broader government campaign against the adoption of Islamic cultural practices in Tajik society, and to preserve secular traditions.
According to official data, 99% of the Tajik population are Muslim. However, atheism was officially encouraged during 70 years of Soviet rule.
'Don't wear black'
The campaign against Islamic practices also affects women. There is an official ban on wearing hijabs in schools and universities - but in practice it is enforced in all state institutions.
Police say that over the past year, they have closed about 160 shops where hijabs were being sold, and convinced 1,773 women to stop wearing hijabs.
Image captionShaving beards is part of a government campaign against "alien culture"
President Emomali Rakhmon has also warned Tajiks: "Don't worship alien values, don't follow alien culture. Wear clothes of traditional colours and cut, not black."
"Even in mourning, Tajik women [should] wear white, not black," he said.
And the authorities have previously called on parents to give their children traditional Tajik names, rather than Arabic or foreign-sounding names.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionColourful headscarves are popular in Tajikistan
It is not clear whether these policies will have an impact on preventing radicalism.
Djovid Akramov says he will not forget the humiliation he felt while being forcefully shaved at the police station.
"The worst is the impunity of the policemen, who were enjoying the opportunity to bully people," he says.
It is this kind of conduct that can prompt people to become radicalised, he says.
I want to live just like a wind, be free— fly in the sky with no rules, break the chains that bind me. I want to live my life like a tree— grow without limitation, bloom with no explanation, regulation and die— naturally. I want to shine as a sun on the world. I want my heart to guide me so I can feel oxygen, live like a wind, be free.
Don’t give me pain.
Give me rest.
My tears have dried up. I need peace, to shine like the moon. I want to live like a wind, be free to dance with nature, sing with birds, fly with them, feel the freedom, lose myself in nature’s love.
Don’t put me in a cage! Don’t be evil to me! I want to live like a wind.
By Shogofa
The writer is currently studying abroad. Photo by Jack Wolf.
