Life

[Berdar]

I attended a graduation for the Afghan National Police recently. As each officer was given his certificate he held it high and said Zhwaan. Or something similar. I was told that it means life.


I have a really good photograph of one of the men and would like to make a poster out of it with the word "life" in Pashto underneath the officer.

Unfortunately, I don't speak or write Pashto. Can someone help me out with the word and the written form of it? Possibly in an ornate script?

Thank you very much in advance

[Admin Khan]

He probably said Zhwand which means life.

Zwaan means young.

I don't have a Pashto keyboard right now, but the picture below, has zhwand written in it. Um, zhwand is the second word[it has 3 dots] you see.




Can you tell us more about the Afghan National Police, please?

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Regarding the Afghan National Police:

"Meanwhile the Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara, and Turcomen minorities have achieved advantages that cause immense resentment among the Pashtuns. For the first time the Tajiks and Hazaras dominate the upper officer class in the army and police even though US training and recruitment includes a strict parity between all ethnic groups. Traditionally the Afghan officer class has been Pashtun. Pashtun representation in the army is lower than its proportion of the population, and only 3 percent of recruits are from the volatile south.Meanwhile the Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara, and Turcomen minorities have achieved advantages that cause immense resentment among the Pashtuns. For the first time the Tajiks and Hazaras dominate the upper officer class in the army and police even though US training and recruitment includes a strict parity between all ethnic groups. Traditionally the Afghan officer class has been Pashtun. Pashtun representation in the army is lower than its proportion of the population, and only 3 percent of recruits are from the volatile south."

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/arch...gination=false

This is comprable to the recent NY Times information from last September:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/world/asia/07afghanistan.html?pagewanted=all

"The influx of tens of thousands of American troops, who have pushed the Taliban back in much of the south, has done little to ease those concerns or to lift recruitment. In some places, the numbers of southern Pashtun recruits are actually shrinking, causing an overall decline of nearly 30 percent in the past five months, compared with the same period a year ago.
With the deadline for the withdrawal of most foreign forces in 2014, the need to enlist more southern Pashtuns is pressing if Afghanistan is to have a national army that resembles the ethnic and geographic makeup of the country. It is no small concern. The absence of southern Pashtuns reinforces the impression here that the army is largely a northern institution — to be used against them — and what Afghan and Western officials worry is a dangerous division of the country."

The little silver lining:
"Some progress has been made, but merely in percentage terms; Kandahar and Helmand more than doubled their number of recruits last year from the previous year."

followed by a reality check:

"The raw numbers, however, are discouraging, and Afghan officials worry that the recent erosion of security in Kandahar City could reverse the few gains they have made."

As a result the Afghan Government has done what it typically has done... tried to polish a turd and call it gold:

"As the numbers have fallen, some top Ministry of Defense officials have begun playing down the importance of strong southern Pashtun representation in the army, while at the same time maintaining that it is a priority.
For now, NATO and Afghan officials have set the goal for the army’s southern Pashtun representation at a modest 4 percent, a reflection of the challenges that lie ahead. Even without them, the army is on pace to meet its goal of 195,000 soldiers by October 2012, NATO officials said."

All of this is why its absolutely hilarious that Karzai demanded control of the Night Raids. In my opinion its far preferable to have the Americans, who have some standards and some responsibility in accordance with the Geneva convention, raiding a home in the south than former members of Dostum's Jumbish Milli! You can actually see this in some of the videos Soldat posted. The ANA officer joke about killing a wounded opponent and the Brit tells them no way.

Its a big farce. In the Western mind, its a soothing panacea to be told that any raid in the south will be done by Afghans. The Americans here at home, many of them good hearted, hear that and think that this means the minute ANA troops raid the home the occupants will see it as if Superman, Aquaman, and Batman came over for tea. When in reality it will be Dostum's old boys ready to do some shooting, and it will be covered up.

The Afghan government is crowing about how its abilities have increased as evidenced by their supposed taking head, the Haqqani Network in the Kabul attacks. Yet subsequent evidence showed that it was the Coalition actually leading the effort.

[Berdar]

Thank you very much.


I'm on my way back to the UK right now, but will be working in the Jalalabad area this summer. I'm a photojournalist. As soon as I get settled in and get the photos digitally processed, I'll post them here for everyone.

I don't really know that much about the ANP. The graduating class that I watched were dressed very smartly and were well disciplined. As I would expect.

On my next visit, I want to spend time with the National Police and the Local Police.

Admin Khan, Thank you for the pic with Zhwand. I really appreciate you helping out. At your convenience, please post the word in a text base(from a Pashto keyboard). That way I will have something that is easily worked with on photoshop.

Thank you all again.

As soon as the poster I'm working on is complete, I'll make it available for you guys as well.

[یاسمینه]

ژوند

[khushal]

Does anyone know why they say that and how it became a slogan in the ANA. I remember they used to say it in the communist days as well.

[Afghanistan2010]

served along side ANA in mounainous region as researcher,most oppose fighting taliban.