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Happy New Year of 1380 Happy Nao Roz
Thursday, March 21, 2002
By Mahmoud Samizay
Afghan-Info.com

Image Credit: Afghan-Info.com.

Nao Roz is an ancient festival and celebration of Spring born about 5000 years ago in Northern Afghanistan. It is said that when King Yama of ancient Bacteria (Balkh) established the solar calendar, he named the first day Nao Roz (new day), during the week of Lala Zaar (tulips).

One more year passed by. A number of people were born and started new life and a number of people passed away and left everything behind themselves. "Everybody took their wishes into the earth, the earth wishes what else?"

Money is thrown into the air during celebrations of the Persian New Year at the Blue Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday, March 21. The crowd surged forward to kiss the flagpole bearing the battle standard of Hazrat Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, whose symbolic tomb is in the mosque.
Image Credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko -- AP.

New Year is the celebration of new efforts, love to land and to the nature. Nao Roz is the symbol of love and peace. There is no room for animosity and there is no room for fighting in this day of celebration. Afghans celebrate Nao Roz as New Day and as the beginning of the Spring season from the ancient times until now. It's called the "Roz-e Dehqan" (Farmer's Day) also. In the recent years, Afghan people have taken the eve of New Year in sign of a good luck and fortune but at the end of the year they have noticed that this year was worse than the previous one.

Last year in Afghanistan was a repetition of previous years. A year of war, year of ethnic conflicts and lack of understanding between people. It was a year of killing of children, killing of elderly people and a year of destruction. Who is the guilty party in this war? Raziq Fani states in one of his poems:

"Oh my God, who is sitting at the people's fortune 'shop'? Making a smile like a flower but selling the worry of war."

In addition to all of these unfortunate events due to the unstable political and social situation, our unlucky people also suffered from God's anger. The two evils: Cold and drought. Hundreds of children, elderly people have died. The International community reacted with not much enthusiasm. The cry of children for their mothers, the cry of mothers for their children remained unheard. Only Afghans can hear the cry of Afghans. Only Afghans can stop this grief of war by saying no war, no more animosity and killing of each other. We have to tie the hand of those people who are selling the grief ("Worry of War") and ethnic conflicts. We all are Afghani brothers and sisters. There are no differences between Pashtouns and Tajiks, between Hazarah and Uzbek, between me and you. We all have one God and one Country.
(More: Mahmoud Samizay’s Afghan-Info.com News Source)
2002 © Mahmoud Samizay.

Dan