Radio Azadi: The Hazara Exclusion (Part IV)

It would have been better if Radio Azaid, the Afghanistan Service, had been renamed Radio of Pashtuns. Radio Azadi, which means a free radio, is a misnomer for a radio that is strongly controlled and catered towards Pathuns' ethnonationalism. Radio Azadi not only amplified through its biased programs but also discriminated against hiring Hazara applicants and employees. This post is in a series of blog posts that I have decided to write about Radio Azadi, reflecting on my experience and the experience of others who worked in this organization.  

When Radio Azadi opened its bureau in Kabul, it hired four Hazara employees; the rest were mostly Pashtuns and Tajiks. Two Czech technicians from Prague hired me; had they been Pashuns or Tajiks, I had zero chance of employment. A year later, I was fired just because I was a Hazara. 

A year later, only one Hazara remained. The rest were pushed out using various methods, including systemic discrimination, denial, trickery, and deceit. Ahmad Takal, an ethnonationalist Pashtun from Wardak province, was leading the Kabul bureau at that time. Along with a group of senior editors, mostly Pashtuns, in Prague, Czech Republic, he promoted a Pashtun-centric and Hazara-phobic view. They had no interest in hiring Hazaras.

One of the most successful journalists in the Farsi/Dari section of Radio Azadi was Basir Bigzad. He was a Hazara and was one of the most fearless journalists, traveling to unsafe areas to gather news. His reports had depth and complexity, dealing with detailed specifics and examining various perspectives, which showed a profound understanding of the subjects.

Once, Basir came from Herat to Kabul. That year, the salaries of all journalists, especially those who reported from unsafe areas, were raised. One day, the director, Ahmad Takal, invited him to his office and said, "Basir, you are one of our best reporters, and no one can replace you. We want to appreciate you more. Ask for your salary to be doubled. In your request, write that you will resign if this request is not accepted. This will force the radio to comply because we do not want to lose you."

Later, Basir confided, "I was confused about what to do, but in the end, I wrote the request and sent it." The next day, he received an email saying, "We have accepted your resignation. Goodbye." Basir was dumbfounded; he was unaware that the Pashtun director in Kabul and Prague had come up with chicaneries to boot him from his position.

The last Hazara working at Radio Azadi in Kabul was Ahmad Behzad. He was one of the most educated journalists in the Farsi/Dari section of the radio and had an excellent command of Farsi/Dari literature, distinguishing him from many of his colleagues.

One day, the Pashtun director in Kabul and the senior editors of Radio Azadi in Prague decided to dismiss Ahmad Behzad. On what ground? He had left a comment on a post on a blog. What he had written didn’t matter. They had told him, "You are not allowed to post comments on blogs because you are an employee of Radio Azadi." He was nearly fired without any reason, but that didn’t happen. Later, Behzad ran for parliament from Herat province and served as a representative for two terms.

This was the condition at Radio Azadi's Afghanistan service in Kabul and Prague offices, where everything from moral and financial corruption to discrimination, deceit, and trickery was pandemic.

I recently heard that only one Hazara currently works at Radio Azadi, and the rest are mostly Pashtuns and Tajiks. Even Radio Azadi Afghanistan's Farsi/Dari section is run by those whose first language is not Farsi/Dari.

A translated version of this post is published on my Farsi blog
Also
Radio Azadi: Amplifying Hazara Discrimination in Afghanistan (Part III)
Radio Azadi: an Office Enmeshed in a Heist (Part II)
Radio Azadi: An Organization Mired in Moral and Financial Corruption (Part I)