January 1 is Samad Alawi’s birthday. It is also the birthday of his wife, his two sons, 32 of his friends and thousands of other Afghans — a date chosen for convenience by a generation who do not know when they were born.
In the absence of birth certificates or official records, many Afghans have long used the seasons or historical events to help determine their age.
However, the explosion of social media networks, such as Facebook, which require users to register their birthday, and the growing demand for passports and visas have forced Afghans to pick a day — any day.
Photo: AFP
Jan. 1 has become a common choice, although the date is more about practicality than parties.
“It seemed all Afghans had birthdays on January 1,” said Samad Alawi, who is 43.
Even those who know their real birth date often choose Jan. 1 because they do not want the hassle of converting their birthday from the Solar Hijri, an Islamic calendar used only in Afghanistan and Iran. The first day of the year in Hijri usually corresponds to March 21.
“When I first created my Facebook account in 2014 it was just easier to choose January 1 as my birthday from the drop-down list,” Alawi said. “The Internet was also slow and it was difficult to convert the date to a Western calendar.”
Even the official identity card, or tazkira, held by most Afghans offers little official clarity, with a person’s age “determined based on physical appearance.”
“My tazkira says I was three years old in 1365 in the Hijri calendar [1986]. That is the year my tazkira was issued,” said Abdul Hadi, who is now 34. “There is no blank space for a date of birth in an Afghan tazkira. How can you remember your date of birth if you don’t have one on the record?”
Authorities are trying to change that. In recent years Afghan hospitals in major cities have started issuing newborns with birth certificates — something previous generations lack.
The Afghan government also plans to issue e-tazkiras, or computerized national ID cards, to Afghans which would include their date of birth, if it is known.
However, the process has been stalled for years by political and technical problems.
In the absence of official records, some educated parents resort to recording their children’s birthdays on slips of paper which are often kept in a copy of the Koran.
“I hope one day all Afghans have their proper date of births so that social media doesn’t have to tell them how old they are,” Alawi said.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS