Afghani youth won't allow Taliban to take over: Sakena
SANDESH PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI | 06 February 2013 11:28 IST
Sakena Yacoobi at Festival of Ideas in Goa
Sakena Yacoobi, the iron lady of Afghanistan, is confident that Taliban would not be in a position take over her country when US withdraws by next year.
“The US army cannot protect us and the Taliban won’t be able to take over us since things have changed dramatically in last two decades”, said Yacoobi, executive director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL).
She was delivering a lecture at the Festival of Ideas yesterday on “Working with Youth to bring change to Society through Education and Teaching them Core Values.”
While confidently claiming that education has changed the Afghanistan scenario completely, she said the youth of Afghanistan presently spread all over the world would bring the change.
“They have tasted education and democracy while living in several countries and they would fight and stand up for their rights”, said Yacoobi.
In fact she even felt confident that the secular values followed in India would be visible even in Afghanistan in next two years.
Through her consistent efforts to impart need-based education to Afghan children based on morality, ethics, science, human values and democratic spirit, Yacoobi said the Afghan youth is a transformed young Afghani today.
A professor in US University who left and came to Afghanistan in 1995 to dedicate her energies and talent to transform Afghanistan through education, Yacoobi recalled how the then government, Taliban and even the people were dead against education.
At the same time however Yacoobi was not too confident of having a democratic system immediately.
According to her, the Afghani society was still gripped in superstition, rigidity and do not allow diverse views to flow through public debates.
But the parallel is being developed, purely with the power of education, she said confidently.
She even explained with lots of true stories how her organization is working with the children, youth and especially women by teaching them morality, gender equality, management, peace and love.
The packed hall of over 900 people, at the end of her stunning speech, gave Yacoobi a standing ovation.
She was also moved by the quality of audience and announced that she would adopt the model of Festival of Ideas of one lecture a day, which makes people listen, think, discuss and come afresh the next day.
