Hard work and study are the best way to success, advises Abdul Ahad Farzam, regional head of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in Kabul. An interview.
“Even in my childhood all my attention was on books and doing my lessons,” he says. He insists seriousness and hard work are the best way to expand knowledge. “Study lets a person follow big goals and dreams,” he adds.
Farzam graduated from Austad Sharifi high school in Jaghori district, Ghazni province. Securing high marks in the common university entrance exam he joined the faculty of law and political science at Kabul University in 2001. On completing his BA he joined AIHRC in 2006, where while he is working he is pursuing a masters in international law from Kateb private university.
Born in Patoo in Jaghori district in 1980, he talks of the schooling he received. “The educational possibilities were very few but there were well-wishers and compassionate people who were guiding and leading us. They used to encourage us to study and would themselves provide us with books.” He says that while reading was tough for him in the beginning, he was soon reading biographies of inspiring people like Nelson Mandela.
Farzam had a special interest in politics from childhood. He got acquainted with different political affiliations and personalities. While in Kabul University, he was a founder member of a civil society organisation, Centre of Understanding, of which he has been president for the past two years.
His first assignment at AIHRC was as head of monitoring and assessment of human rights violations in the field office at Bamyan. He was appointed for a three-year term from where he was elevated to head the Bamyan zone. Two years ago he moved to Kabul to head the regional office.
In Bamyan he was simultaneously working as an honorary lecturer in the university. He is also a member of the board of directors of a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Shuhada (martyrs).
Looking back at his work in Bamyan, he says with Habiba Surabi, the governor, AIHRC was actively present in working groups and committees of the government, and successfully persuaded officials to be responsible and support people’s rights.
