This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8357427.stm
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
The place to take the Afghan pulse | The place to take the Afghan pulse |
(about 6 hours later) | |
Watch the film in full | |
By Lyse Doucet Sar-e Chowk, Kabul | By Lyse Doucet Sar-e Chowk, Kabul |
Once upon a time in Kabul, there was only one roundabout. And what a place it was - a heaving tide of humanity converged on this central axis in the city, an unrivalled space for commerce and conversation. | Once upon a time in Kabul, there was only one roundabout. And what a place it was - a heaving tide of humanity converged on this central axis in the city, an unrivalled space for commerce and conversation. |
All roads led to the roundabout and so did the news. | All roads led to the roundabout and so did the news. |
Constable Jamil has the difficult task of keeping the traffic flowing | Constable Jamil has the difficult task of keeping the traffic flowing |
During the 16th Century reign of the Mogul Emperor Babur it was known as the "navel of Kabul". | During the 16th Century reign of the Mogul Emperor Babur it was known as the "navel of Kabul". |
Afghans met at this point, from across Kabul and across the country. | Afghans met at this point, from across Kabul and across the country. |
In the late 19th Century, writes Afghan historian Asif Ahang, "the clever king Amir Abdul Rahman Khan used to check what the people said on the roundabout before executing any decision". | In the late 19th Century, writes Afghan historian Asif Ahang, "the clever king Amir Abdul Rahman Khan used to check what the people said on the roundabout before executing any decision". |
To this day, Afghans ask, in Dari, about Akbar-e Sar-e Chowk - the news from the roundabout. | To this day, Afghans ask, in Dari, about Akbar-e Sar-e Chowk - the news from the roundabout. |
If newly re-elected President Hamid Karzai sent his envoy there what would he find? | If newly re-elected President Hamid Karzai sent his envoy there what would he find? |
It is still a heaving vortex, a tide of four-wheeled and four-legged conveyance. Horse and human drawn carts jostle with buses and barrows. | It is still a heaving vortex, a tide of four-wheeled and four-legged conveyance. Horse and human drawn carts jostle with buses and barrows. |
Shouted orders | Shouted orders |
It is Constable Jamil's beat. The moustachioed policeman with an impressive peaked hat keeps it all moving with piercing whistle blasts and emphatic hand signals. | It is Constable Jamil's beat. The moustachioed policeman with an impressive peaked hat keeps it all moving with piercing whistle blasts and emphatic hand signals. |
These women are forced to sell their clothes to raise money for food | These women are forced to sell their clothes to raise money for food |
His megaphone cuts through the cacophony: "Bus driver! Do you know your right or left, oh brother? Fellow citizens... please clear the road." | His megaphone cuts through the cacophony: "Bus driver! Do you know your right or left, oh brother? Fellow citizens... please clear the road." |
The traffic goes round - in a fashion - and so does the news. | The traffic goes round - in a fashion - and so does the news. |
On the metal balcony of the roundabout restaurant we met three men who had travelled from the north, south and east of the country. Strangers shared food, and frustrations. | On the metal balcony of the roundabout restaurant we met three men who had travelled from the north, south and east of the country. Strangers shared food, and frustrations. |
Sattar Shah, from the northern province of Baghlan, told us a tale of woe. He said his tractor was taken by corrupt officials whom he accused of wanting a bribe to give it back. | Sattar Shah, from the northern province of Baghlan, told us a tale of woe. He said his tractor was taken by corrupt officials whom he accused of wanting a bribe to give it back. |
A bearded farmer with sad drooping eyes, complained: "No-one listens to us. I can't reach President Karzai or any other authority." And he had a warning too: "We have no choice but to turn to the Taliban or road robbery!" | A bearded farmer with sad drooping eyes, complained: "No-one listens to us. I can't reach President Karzai or any other authority." And he had a warning too: "We have no choice but to turn to the Taliban or road robbery!" |
Desperation | Desperation |
For some who descend on this place the roundabout is their last hope. In one of the poorest nations in the world, they are the poorest of the poor. | For some who descend on this place the roundabout is their last hope. In one of the poorest nations in the world, they are the poorest of the poor. |
Sattar Shah said he had fallen prey to the country's widespread corruption | Sattar Shah said he had fallen prey to the country's widespread corruption |
Rahmini hid her identity behind an all enveloping blue burqa as she sat on a jumble of her family's clothes, but there was no hiding her desperation: | Rahmini hid her identity behind an all enveloping blue burqa as she sat on a jumble of her family's clothes, but there was no hiding her desperation: |
"I have no life," she wailed, gesturing to the garments she was trying to sell to afford something to eat. | "I have no life," she wailed, gesturing to the garments she was trying to sell to afford something to eat. |
White-bearded Enayat stopped us as we went round the roundabout. Gesturing in the direction of the presidential palace, only a mile down the road, he said: "We respect the president. He is our elder." | White-bearded Enayat stopped us as we went round the roundabout. Gesturing in the direction of the presidential palace, only a mile down the road, he said: "We respect the president. He is our elder." |
But he was concerned about the ongoing security problems saying: "It is bad here, and it is worse in the provinces. The president must talk to the Taliban." | But he was concerned about the ongoing security problems saying: "It is bad here, and it is worse in the provinces. The president must talk to the Taliban." |
Intelligence gathering | Intelligence gathering |
We heard a more positive assessment from a young man who spends his time taking the positive from the negative. Twenty-year-old Pervaiz, who has never been to school, takes pictures using a wooden box of a camera that dates back to the dawn of photography. | We heard a more positive assessment from a young man who spends his time taking the positive from the negative. Twenty-year-old Pervaiz, who has never been to school, takes pictures using a wooden box of a camera that dates back to the dawn of photography. |
Harking back to the days when the roundabout was a frontline in a brutal civil war in the 90s he said "Things are better now". | Harking back to the days when the roundabout was a frontline in a brutal civil war in the 90s he said "Things are better now". |
Pervaiz, who has never been to school, earns a living taking photos | Pervaiz, who has never been to school, earns a living taking photos |
But today there is a new threat - swine flu. The paper masks which some wear provide thin protection and most know that if the disease spreads here there is not much to stop it. | But today there is a new threat - swine flu. The paper masks which some wear provide thin protection and most know that if the disease spreads here there is not much to stop it. |
Every Afghan at the roundabout seemed to be fighting one battle after another in a place defined by a battered monument to Afghanistan's Unknown Soldier. | Every Afghan at the roundabout seemed to be fighting one battle after another in a place defined by a battered monument to Afghanistan's Unknown Soldier. |
"I will serve my people until my last drop of blood," vowed Constable Jamil. | "I will serve my people until my last drop of blood," vowed Constable Jamil. |
His message to the president? It was not surprising for a traffic policeman - better roads - and he suggested Mr Karzai should listen to his people. | His message to the president? It was not surprising for a traffic policeman - better roads - and he suggested Mr Karzai should listen to his people. |
High above the traffic, a white surveillance blimp bobbed above the presidential palace. The eye in the sky is one of the most modern of ways to gather intelligence. | High above the traffic, a white surveillance blimp bobbed above the presidential palace. The eye in the sky is one of the most modern of ways to gather intelligence. |
But the president might find the old ways of kings still work best today. | But the president might find the old ways of kings still work best today. |
Previous version
1
Next version