Exactly a year ago — on September 5, 2018, as a result of a terrorist attack in Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the reporter, Said Samim Faramarz was killed. He was among the first to enter in 2010, and then graduated in 2015 from the Department of Journalism of Al-Farabi Qazaq National University through the State Educational Program of the Republic of Qazaqstan for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
As a student at Qazaq National University, S.Faramarz was an example in learning and behavior, actively participated in student life, including in the project “UN Model: New Silk Road — 2019”.
Now his Qazaqstani fellow students and teachers of higher educational institutions warmly remember him.
Looking at this young, handsome and erudite student — a representative of the young generation of the IRA, the Qazaqstanis were changing the prevailing stereotype of Afghans as terrorists, religious extremists and drug couriers.
He was a patriot of his country, attracted to knowledge, noted as an example for Afghanistan the interethnic and inter-confessional unity and achievements in the political and socio-economic life of Qazaqstan. He dreamed, returning home, to work worthily for the good of his country, and wished the Afghan people the speediest achievement of peace and prosperity.
As you know, upon returning to his homeland, S.Faramarz got a job as a television journalist in the local popular news channel ToloNews. His television reports and interviews were notable for their relevance and truthfulness.
On that tragic day, he was not stopped by the fear of being killed, he honorably and dignifiedly fulfilled his professional duty and took an active life stance, having traveled to the scene of incident to interview the victims and witnesses of the violence in Kabul.
According to the Qazaqstani representatives, S.Faramarz did not deceive their hopes, becoming a vivid example of a young but established citizen of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, seeking to overcome the internal military conflict with the assistance of the international community, including fraternal and friendly Qazaqstan, which provides economic and humanitarian assistance to this country.
Against the background of the frequent cases of the death of journalists not only in Afghanistan, but also in other regions of the world that carry the truth from “hot spots” at the risk of their lives, reveal crimes against humanity, the Qazaqstan-Afghanistan Association for Development and Partnership “AFG-QAZ” proposes to establish S.Faramarz Prize “For Journalistic Courage”.
For reference: according to the international non-governmental organization “Reporters Without Borders’’, as a result of the attacks, 10 Afghan journalists died in the IRA, most of them were under 30 years old.
The annual prize is awarded annually to young journalists from Afghanistan and Central Asian countries for their high professionalism and civic maturity in the performance of their duties in difficult security conditions.
We believe that individual Afghan philanthropists could come up with the initiative to financially accompany of this award, which would increase the significance of this project.
The fond memory of the Afghan journalist S.Faramarz will remain in the hearts of people who knew him.
Omirtay Bitimov
Chairman of Qazaqstan-Afghanistan Association for Development and Partnership “AFG-QAZ”, ex-Ambassador of the Republic of Qazaqstan to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
