A bridge between Switzerland and Afghanistan

Wahid Mehran, Doctoral assistant at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), was invited to speak at the diaspora networking event organised by AWAS - Afghan Women Association Switzerland in Zurich. The programme titled "Building bridges between Switzerland and Afghanistan" brought together scholars and activists from various walks of life to discuss issues including Afghanistan’s diaspora networks, media and women. The encounter included both Swiss citizens and members of Afghanistan’s diaspora and migrant community.

Wahid Mehran reflected on life before and after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban. He was in Kabul when the chaos unfolded on 15 August 2021. "Free and dynamic media, which was the biggest achievement in Afghanistan after NATO’s intervention in 2001, has vanished under the de facto Taliban. Censorship and self-censorship are the norm. Female media workers and journalists came under extreme pressure which were predictable given the Taliban’s broader oppressive and discriminatory policies against women. It led to a mass exodus of hundreds of journalists from the country, leading the creation of media-in-exile which currently carries the burden of independent reporting and highlighting wrong-doings under the rule of the repressive militia group in Afghanistan" said the USI PhD student.

Part of the discussion was focused on diaspora interactions that is aligned with Wahid Mehran’s ongoing research at the Institute of Communication and Public Policy at USI. In this regard, he demonstrated that "Afghanistan’s diaspora is not just heterogeneous but segmented along ethnic, linguistic, political and other lines. However there is a potential to do more than just talks. We need to listen to each other’s opposing perspectives before forcing or reinforcing our own’s. This way we could hope to find common ground or strive to make some". The panel highlighted the need for Afghanistan’s diaspora community to take an active role in meaningful programs and policymaking in Switzerland and elsewhere, rather than remaining symbolic participants.

In his PhD work, Wahid Mehran examines digital construction and negotiations of ethno-national identities, differences and diversity within Afghanistan and its diasporic communities. He has been a TV Journalist and Media Lecturer in Afghanistan. Further, he is a poet who writes in Farsi/Dari.