Press and ethnic polarization in post-2001 Afghanistan: the 2014 presidential election experience. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sahar, Arif; Sahar, Aqila
• Is Part Of: Central Asian survey. Volume 35:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 105
• Page End: 120
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: ethnicity -- ethnic grievance -- identity -- press -- conflict -- election; Asia, Central -- Periodicals; 958.005
• DOI: 10.1080/02634937.2015.1063234
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0263-4937

Abstract

Abstract : This article analyses the contents of three newspapers affiliated with the Tajik-dominated Jamiat and Shura-e-Nezar factions that were deployed during the 2014 presidential election to publicize ethno-political polarization for instrumental ends. The practice of nurturing ethnic identities serves as a microcosm of the broader context in which identity politics, besides coalition-building, rent-seeking, and patrimonial interdependencies, has become a key feature of post-2001 politics. This article focuses on how these factions used these newspapers to polarize ethnic cleavages to win legitimacy for themselves and defamation for their Pashtun-dominated rival factions – Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin and the Taliban. It will be years before the ethnic mujahedeen and muhajereen and the new generation reach a mutually binding and working condition that facilitates the country's long-term stability. Reaching this condition is critical because the future of Afghanistan lies in the commitment of its people to form a united community that resolves disputes in the manner of a democratic nation.