Campus Press

Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: News

John Sharza, a senior political science major and founder of the Afghan Student Union, stands outside of the UMC on Thursday, Sept. 27. Sharza is wearing a Pakol, a traditional Afghan hat that he wears to represent the struggle between the Afghan rebels and the Soviet invasion. (CP Photo/Sara Fossum)

The Afghan Student Union was formed in 2005 with a mission to generate an understanding about a country that has not always been well-represented by the media.

"The ASU was created to promote and celebrate Afghan culture, and at the same time, create awareness about Afghanistan and its stability and reconstruction," said John Ali Sharza, a senior political science major, founder of ASU and the UCSU director of diversity affairs.

Sharza emphasized that the ASU is not a political group, but is instead an Afghan culture group which recognizes the politics associated with Afghanistan.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Afghans became a target of stereotypes and prejudice. Six years later, the stereotypes still remain - even on CU's campus.

Shannon Preston, a junior broadcast production major, said she doesn't know much about Afghanistan, but still perceives the country in negative terms.

"I think of (Afghanistan), I guess, in a negative connotation," Preston said. "This feeling has been stimulated from everything that has happened since 9/11 and the way in which our country perceives (Afghanistan)."

Sharza hopes to help dismantle negative generalizations students have about Afghan-Americans and Afghanistan.

A common assumption shared by students about Afghanistan regards its non-democratic government. Michael West, a junior environmental studies major, believes that the Islam religion prevents Afghanistan from pursuing democracy.

"Afghanistan is a country that has religious sects that oppose a democratic system of government," West said.

Preston agreed that Afghanistan is resistant to democracy and that this is an important reason for conflict.

"I think we think that Afghanistan is not taking the right step toward democracy," Preston said.

Disagreeing with these conceptions, Sharza said Afghanistan is pursuing a democratic government. However, he believes it will be hard for Afghanistan to become a democratically stable county when it has only just overcome 30 years of war. Afghanistan has its own constitution and parliament and has further declared itself as an Islamic democracy.

"I would like to stress that the democracy we see in the West is not the type of democracy we see elsewhere," Sharza said.

Another generalization about Afghanistan regards its sexual construct. Some believe that Afghanistan is constructed on patriarchal terms and thus oppresses Afghan women.

Sharza did not deny this oppression, but said he would like to emphasize that there are movements toward women's rights and such oppression is not of Afghan culture at peace.

"People need to be aware that before the Soviets invaded, we had women in education and women in the government," Sharza said.

The ultimate perception that Sharza and the ASU hope to demonstrate about Afghanistan is one of tolerance and acceptance.

"The most important thing to recognize is that Afghans are welcoming and open-minded," Sharza said.

The Afghan Student Union welcomes members who are Afghan, of Afghan descent or are just interested in learning about Afghanistan. For more information, contact John Sharza at John.Sharza@Colorado.edu or visit ASU's Web site.

Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Sara Fossum at sara.fossum@colorado.edu

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