Wikipedia

[Spinghar]

Salamoona,
hope everyone is doing well here...havnt been here for a while.

Now a days one of the major source of information for westerners and other Non-Afghan/Pashtun is Wikipedia. They type something about Afghanistan or Pashtun culture and they find it on Wikipedia and they trust the source as well.

Unfortunatly most of the information stored there about Afghanistan and Pashtun culture are not correct they are false.

Even in this war our enemie is one step ahead of us.

I would like everyone to contribute to Wikipedia. Write articles about famouse Afghan/Pashtun personlities, culture, Geography etc. Try to edit articles which you think give false information about Pashtuns. Give references such as book-ID or register number, newspaper, website etc.

Informations on these sites (wikipedia or encyclopedia) really has huge effect on people looking for infos about us (afghanistan/Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

[tor_khan]

^
Spinghar Jan,

This is a brilliant idea - I actually did a study on Wikipedia for my MA, which was interesting. And you are right - Wikipedia is a window through which many of us are viewed - the "problem" with Wikipedia (and the advantage too, of course), is that there are many contributors - that is why you have variations in spelling, grammar, accuracy and the whole debate about reliability of sources.

I guess the best way is to have open contribution but a teams of editors (if you look at a "behind the scenes" edit dialogue, a lot of actitivity goes on to get the reliability we talk about).

On a similiar note, I am all for strong, positive Web presences for Pashtoons - we need a multilingual voice - there is wikipedia in Pashto - but it's pretty difficult to promote the wikipedia logo in Pashto because you can't incorporate it into an existing website for example.

Take a look http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikip...ach_language#P

You've got Panjabee in there (Western Panjabee too) and the irony is there are probably about 5 people in the whole of Pakistan than can read Panjabee. (I exaggerate of course, but written Panjabee is all but dead in Pakistan) and yet they have a promotable logo.

Pashto wikipedia here.

[Zahia]

I think you all have a great idea and should do it! Who better to contribute information than those who actually know what they're talking about? No one! Best of luck, I look forward to reading what you all write!

[Admin Khan]

I am also willing to help out.

[Spinghar]

We some zwanan here in Germany have already translated some books from German to Pashto and Pashto to German and are soon going to be printed. The Pashto books may also be given to education ministry of Afghanistan and will also be given to some schools. Our friends have already started this Wikipedia articles.

It is not difficult and everyone can take a 15mins time once a week and can write a new article or edit already an exitsting article which you think gives false information.

people with IT knowledge can also try to translate some softwares/programms into Pashto. like OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox.

Few months back we were able to officially put Pashto language in facebook. Its in beta version as its not fully translated, but most of its feature are translated and you can select Pashto as your interface/display langauge.


If someone needs help or info or references can visit the following websites and contact our members of "Da Afghanistan kulturi wade tolan - Da zwanano tsaanga" or "AfghanIC - Afghan Information Center".

http://www.afghanic.de/index.php/en

http://afghanculture.de/

[Badlun]

Great Idea

I wish friends familiar with Wikipedia may guide members here how to contribute there. they can also point out articles with links where contribution is required.

For examples I was reading the article on Afghanistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan

and found out that something really important is going on there as you will find there this


This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
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Its factual accuracy is disputed. Tagged since May 2010.
It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since April 2010.

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[Badlun]

The ethnic composition given there in Wikipedia may need correction and provision of exact data. For me the following cant be correct taken from the article on Afghanistan

(1) Based on official census numbers from the 1960s to the 1980s, as well as information found in mainly scholarly sources, the Encyclopædia Iranica[154] gives the following list:
39.4% Pashtun
33.7% Tajik, Farsiwan, and Qezelbash
8.0% Hazara
8.0% Uzbek
4.1% Aimak
3.3% Turkmen
1.6% Baloch
1.9% other

[Badlun]

Similarly the following is clearly not correct

The most common languages spoken in Afghanistan are Dari (also known as Eastern Persian; roughly 50%) and Pashto (roughly 35%).

[Badlun]

You will be astnoished to see the following article on the Culture of Afghanitsan in the above article on Afghanistan. It alltalks of the Persian poets and even names of Rahman Baba and Khushal Baba have not been mentioned and about Pashtuns the only mention is of tribal system, arms and nomads.

Afghans display pride in their religion, country, ancestry, and above all, their independence. Like other highlanders, Afghans are regarded with mingled apprehension and condescension, for their high regard for personal honor, for their clan loyalty and for their readiness to carry and use arms to settle disputes.[158] As clan warfare and internecine feuding has been one of their chief occupations since time immemorial, this individualistic trait has made it difficult for foreign invaders to hold the region.
Afghanistan has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. However, many of the country's historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars.[159] The two famous statues of Buddha in Bamyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the cities of Kandahar, Herat, Ghazni and Balkh. The Minaret of Jam, in the Hari River valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. A cloak reputedly worn by Muhammad is stored inside the famous Mosque of the Cloak of the Prophet Mohammed in Kandahar City.
Buzkashi is a national sport in Afghanistan. It is similar to polo and played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold a goat carcass. Afghan hounds (a type of running dog) also originated in Afghanistan.
Although literacy levels are very low, classic Persian poetry plays a very important role in the Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in Iran and Afghanistan, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Persian culture has, and continues to, exert a great influence over Afghan culture. Private poetry competition events known as "musha’era" are quite common even among ordinary people. Almost every homeowner owns one or more poetry collections of some sort, even if they are not read often.
The eastern dialects of the Persian language are popularly known as "Dari". The name itself derives from "Pārsī-e Darbārī", meaning Persian of the royal courts. The ancient term Darī – one of the original names of the Persian language – was revived in the Afghan constitution of 1964, and was intended "to signify that Afghans consider their country the cradle of the language. Hence, the name Fārsī, the language of Fārs, is strictly avoided."[160]


Avicenna, a famous physician and philosopher whose writings had huge impact over the entire then-known world.
Many of the famous Persian poets of the tenth to fifteenth centuries stem from Khorasan where is now known as Afghanistan, such as Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi (also known as Rumi or Mawlana), Rabi'a Balkhi (the first poetess in the History of Persian Poetry), Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (from Herat), Nasir Khusraw (born near Balkh, died in Badakhshan), Jāmī of Herāt, Alī Sher Navā'ī (the famous vizier of the Timurids), Sanā'ī Ghaznawi, Daqiqi Balkhi, Farrukhi Sistani, Unsuri Balkhi, Anvari, and many others. Moreover, some of the contemporary Persian language poets and writers, who are relatively well-known in Persian-speaking world, include Khalilullah Khalili,[161] Sufi Ashqari,[162] Sarwar Joya, Qahar Asey, Parwin Pazwak and others.
In addition to poets and authors, numerous Persian scientists and philosophers were born or worked in the region of present-day Afghanistan. Most notable was Avicenna (Abu Alī Hussein ibn Sīnā) whose father hailed from Balkh. Ibn Sīnā, who travelled to Isfahan later in life to establish a medical school there, is known by some scholars as "the father of modern medicine". George Sarton called ibn Sīnā "the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times." His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun. Ibn Sīnā's story even found way to the contemporary English literature through Noah Gordon's The Physician, now published in many languages.
Al-Farabi was another well-known philosopher and scientist of the 9th and 10th centuries, who, according to Ibn al-Nadim, was from the Faryab Province in Afghanistan. Other notable scientists and philosophers are Abu Rayhan Biruni (a notable astronomer, anthropologist, geographer, and mathematician of the Ghaznavid period who lived and died in Ghazni), Abu Zayd Balkhi (a polymath and a student of al-Kindi), Abu Ma'shar Balkhi (known as Albumasar or Albuxar in the west), and Abu Sa'id Sijzi (from Sistan).
Before the Taliban gained power, the city of Kabul was home to many musicians who were masters of both traditional and modern Afghan music, especially during the Nauroz-celebration. Kabul in the middle part of the twentieth century has been likened to Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
There are an estimated 60 major Pashtun tribes.[163] The tribal system, which orders the life of most people outside metropolitan areas, is potent in political terms. Men feel a fierce loyalty to their own tribe, such that, if called upon, they would assemble in arms under the tribal chiefs and local clan leaders. In theory, under Islamic law, every believer has an obligation to bear arms at the ruler's call.
Heathcote considers the tribal system to be the best way of organizing large groups of people in a country that is geographically difficult, and in a society that, from a materialistic point of view, has an uncomplicated lifestyle.[158]
The population of nomads in Afghanistan is estimated at about 2-3 million.[164] Nomads contribute importantly to the national economy in terms of meat, skins and wool.

[Nokia_Apridy]

spinaghar dar kha pera french wala Pukhtanu

Frend to Pukhtu ao Pukhtu to frend dictnry sarganda kray da

awo taso German haba ka hem sarganda ka....

mung da marsty da para stargay pa lar yu

ka haga da Dawganu marsta awo ka da kar INSHALLAh

[Nick]

Dear spinghar thanks for the Advice. I used to think just like you about 6 years ago. I made some of the most highest contribution that I think no-one in here has. Much of the new articles (since 2004) and so much wars against western Media was initially due to my opposite reaction.

My simple war against false western media went into against Iranians, and it was from there in which everything started to fall. Iranians are the highest contributors of Wikipedia, most people think Iranians are only involved in Google etc, but the real truth, that almost 60% of what has been posted regarding Afghanistan is coming from Iranian. They have changed everything. Later as time pasted and I was head to Head with Major contributors I assumed they were all Westerners and etc, slowly I came to know they were actually Iranians. I was posting their own source against theirs and came them with deleting it.

Believe me you will not go far, sorry of my language if you are an Iranian A$$ licker like this Ismaili Jamshidi User by the name of Tajik you will servive, or this Khoudadad Azizi I tell you you be fine. Otherwise Post anything positive, and bring everything with Source and etc. All it takes is making you war or bashing or swearing against another. Automatically the Mods can actually delete all of your contributions. The ones they like they will keep the ones the don't like it will be deleted for live and you can never bring it back.