Paul Smith, our Country Director in Afghanistan, blogs about the attack in Kabul and the reasons for staying afterwards. This piece first appeared in the New York Times.
On 19 August 2011 the unimaginable happened. The most ruthlessly planned and viciously violent direct attack on the British Council in its history occurred over a seven-hour period in Kabul.
In postings to 10 countries across five continents, I’ve lost count of the number of academic conferences I’ve had to help open or close. Some countries schedule so many research forums that I can’t see how professors find any time to spend in the lab or library.
I had a strange experience today. I was hosting Dr Masoudi, Director of the Afghan National Museum, for a quick lunch on our bit of lawn at British Council Kabul.
Would you credit it – the Simon Cowell cavalcade is even reverberating across Afghanistan. This morning I met the young Afghan producer who is preparing Tolo TV’s seventh(!) series of Afghan Star. We can prepare for new waves of popular frenzy from Kandahar to Bamiyan, no doubt accompanied by antagonistic condemnations from the insurgent peripherals.
The British Council is the UK’s international cultural organisation. Read about the work we’re doing building relationships between the UK and other countries through our work in Arts, English, Education and Society.
Afghanistan - arts - British Council - Cultural relations - Edinburgh Showcase - education - English - South Asia - theater - theatre -
Comments
0