The Enlightenment Movement or Junbesh-e Roshnayi () is a grassroots

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

movement of

Hazaras The Hazaras (; ) are an ethnic group and a principal component of Afghanistan’s population. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan. Hazaras al ...

created in 2016 in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in response to the Afghan government's change in routing plans for proposed international electricity networking, which was perceived as continuing historical anti-Hazara discrimination. The group organised major protests in Afghanistan and internationally during 2016 and 2017, protesting against discrimination. The group's youthful leadership challenged traditional Hazara leaders for representativity of the community.

Background

Nonviolent resistance Nonviolent resistance, or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, construct ...

movements in Afghanistan include Khudai Khidmatgar, which held long-term campaigns of nonviolent resistance to the British colonial government in the 1930s, and the Tabassum movement in November 2015, in which massive, multiethnic, protests with women playing significant roles took place in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

and across Afghanistan in protest against the execution of seven

by a group claiming association with

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

Creation

In 2016, Hazaras in Afghanistan and in the Hazara diaspora, especially students and academics, started coordinating in small groups to oppose the continued persecution of Hazara people. The Central Asian Energy Supply Improvement Investment Program (commonly known as ''TUTAP'' for

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

–

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

–

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

–Afghanistan–

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

) was initially planned to pass through

Bamyan Province Bamyan, also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān (), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan with the city of Bamyan as its center, located in central parts of Afghanistan. The terrain in Bamyan is mountainous or semi-mountainous ...

, where it would have benefited many Hazaras, a major component of the population. Rumours of government plans to shift the route away from Bamyan Province circulated in January 2016, and a first protest was held in Bamyan on 9 January 2016. In a non-public session on 30 April 2016, the Afghan government shifted the proposed route to Salang Pass instead, arguing that this was economically justified. Hazaras disagreed, seeing the change as ethnic discrimination that would deprive them of the chance at equalising their access to resources. Protests started in early May in Bamyan and other cities around Afghanistan. Two thousand Hazaras met in western

in Mosala of Shahid Mazari and decided to coordinate under the name ''Enlightenment Movement''.

Leadership and membership

The Enlightenment Movement was led by "The People's High Council", a group of students and academics. Sayed Ziafatullah Saeedi stated that these primarily consisted of Hazara youths, as opposed to traditional Hazara leaders "from quasi-warlord backgrounds". Basir Ahang said that traditional Hazara leaders initially supported the Enlightenment Movement and its demands, but shifted towards the government's stance, thereby losing support from the young generation.

Actions

Ultimatum

The first action of the Enlightenment Movement was to set a two-week ultimatum to the government to cancel its decision changing the route of TUTAP and restore the plan for the route to pass through Bamyan. The organisers stated that

would be carried out if the government refused.

16 May 2016 protest

On 16 May 2016, an Enlightenment Movement protest with a million participants in Kabul and parallel protests in other cities took place. Authorities placed shipping containers to prevent protestors reaching the presidential palace in Kabul. The protestors chanted slogans and stayed in Dehmazang Square for several hours. The People's High Council called for the protestors to disband peacefully, fearing violent repression by security forces. Support protests continued internationally during the following weeks.

9 June Warsaw protest

During the

2016 Warsaw summit The 2016 Warsaw Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the 26th formal summit of the heads of state and heads of government of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, held at the National Stadium, Warsaw, National Stadium i ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, Hazaras protested, leading Afghan president

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan former politician and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was 2021 Taliban offensive, overthrown by the Ta ...

to cancel a planned press conference.

23 July 2016 protest

On 23 July 2016, another major protest coordinated by the Enlightenment Movement started at 7am in the Dashte Barchi area of Kabul, a majority Hazara area. The protest included women with flowers at the head of the march, and overall had a "significant" participation by women protestors. During the march, two suicide bombers blew themselves up, with initial estimates of 80 deaths and 200 wounded. The Afghan

National Directorate of Security The National Directorate of Security (NDS; ; ) was the national intelligence agency, intelligence and security agency, security service of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The headquarters of the NDS was in Kabul, and it had field offices and ...

and the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

attributed responsibility for the attack to the

, which denied responsibility. Authorities cleaned the site of the attack, which Basir Ahang interpreted as obstructing forensic investigation of the scene.

Tweet campaign

On 28 July, a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

campaign with the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...

s ''#Enlightenment'' and ''#EnlightenmentMovement'' took place, generating 400,000 tweets. Tweets called for justice and support for the victims of the attack and for opposition to anti-Hazara discrimination. The Twitter account of

Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah (Dari language, Dari, , ; born Abdullah; 5 September 1960) is an Afghan politician who led the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) from May 2020 until August 2021, when the Afghan government was Fall of Kabul (2021), ...

, Afghan Chief Executive, was cracked with a message stating "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery" and including the ''#Enlightenment'' and ''#EnlightenmentMovement'' hashtags.

April 2017 Canberra protest

On 3 April 2017, Enlightenment Movement protests took place in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

during an official state visit by Ghani, the first by an Afghan president to Australia. The protest included 1000 Afghans and supporters opposing anti-Hazara discrimination and opposing the deportation back to Afghanistan of Afghans who had been refused the

right of asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, such as a second country or another enti ...

References

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BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36305567 , access-date= 2021-06-05 , archive-url= https://archive.today/20160727012604/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36305567 , archive-date= 2016-07-27 , url-status=live {{cite news , title= Devastating blasts rip through Hazara protest in Kabul , date= 2016-07-23 , newspaper=

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

, url= https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2016/7/23/devastating-blasts-rip-through-hazara-protest-in-kabul , access-date= 2021-06-05 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20210605204340/https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2016/7/23/devastating-blasts-rip-through-hazara-protest-in-kabul , archive-date= 2021-06-05 , url-status=live {{cite web , last1 = Ahang , first1 = Basir , title= Hazara Massacre Continues in Afghanistan , website= Eurasia Diary , date = 2016-08-20 , url = https://ednews.net/en/news/analytical-wing/64705-hazara-massacre-continues-in-afghanistan , access-date = 2021-06-05 , archive-url= https://archive.today/20210605215951/https://ednews.net/en/news/analytical-wing/64705-hazara-massacre-continues-in-afghanistan , archive-date= 2021-06-05 , url-status=live {{cite web , last1 = Saeedi , first1 = Sayed Ziafatullah , title= Ghani's Missed Opportunity: The Hazara Enlightenment Movement , website= The Diplomat , date = 2019-07-26 , url = https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/ghanis-missed-opportunity-the-hazara-enlightenment-movement , access-date = 2021-06-05 , archive-url= https://archive.today/20210605204810/https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/ghanis-missed-opportunity-the-hazara-enlightenment-movement , archive-date= 2021-06-05 , url-status=live {{cite news , title= Widespread Twitter campaign launched following deadly Kabul attack , date= 2016-07-29 , newspaper= Khaama Press , url= https://www.khaama.com/widespread-twitter-campaign-launched-following-deadly-kabul-attack-01597 , access-date= 2021-06-05 , archive-url= https://archive.today/20210605235126/https://www.khaama.com/widespread-twitter-campaign-launched-following-deadly-kabul-attack-01597 , archive-date= 2021-06-05 , url-status=live {{cite news , title= Afghan chief executive's Twitter account hacked , agency = AFP , date= 2016-07-31 , newspaper=

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

, url= https://www.dawn.com/news/1274455 , access-date= 2021-06-05 , archive-url= https://archive.today/20210605235451/https://www.dawn.com/news/1274455 , archive-date= 2021-06-05 , url-status=live {{cite news , title= Enlightenment Movement Protests In Canberra During Ghani Visit , date= 2017-04-03 , newspaper= TOLOnews , url= https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/ghani-sign-economic-agreements-while-australia , access-date= 2021-06-05 , archive-url= https://archive.today/20210606000926/https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/ghani-sign-economic-agreements-while-australia , archive-date= 2021-06-06 , url-status=live {{void , templates: {{cite news , last1= , first1= , last2= , first2= , pages= , language = , title= , trans-title = , date= , publisher= , newspaper= , url= , access-date= 2021... {{cite web , last1 = , first1 = , last2= , first2= , authorlink = , language = , title= , trans-title = , work = , publisher = , website= , date = , url = , format = , doi = , access-date = 2021... Non-profit organisations based in Afghanistan Afghan peace process