Few days ago, civil and political activists from Bamiyan province launched a peaceful protest in front of lower house of the parliament over what they claimed as discriminative distribution and allocation of public budgets. They carried a lantern and passed it to MP's and asked them to send it as gift to the U.S. embassy. Some MP's also showed sympathy with them, criticizing President Karzai and his government over what they called as negligence of Bamiyan during past eleven years.
Bamiyan has become a popular province due to several symbolic civil movements which all vividly showcase the love of residents for peace and civility and their grievances of Kabul government services and activities.
It is not the first time that lantern used as symbol in the protest.
A big symbolic lantern is set on a square at the center of the Bamiyan city as sign that the province does not have electricity. Few years ago, the protestors, for the first time, thatched the road with clay and straw in order to note that government or any foreign NGO's have not yet paid attention to the province which otherwise should have developed enormously, because it is the most peaceful province in the country.
In another symbolic protest, people awarded "medals to donkeys" as symbol that generally poor residents of Bamiyan carry water on their back. Still they do not have access to safe and clean water. Some families walk kilometers away for bringing safe and clean water for their family members.
Indeed what Bamiyan activists are doing symbolizes the entire complaints and criticism across Hazarajat. Hazaras, generally living at the central parts of the country as well as recently migrated mostly to several big cities like Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat, are very popular for their sincerity and peacefulness.
They support the democratic establishment and even when President Karzai for the first time traveled in Hazara dominated regions, people as a traditional custom for reverence and greetings, sacrificed cows, ox, goats and etc, hoping that he may not bear the lasting discriminative approach of his predecessors.
But fortunately, the hope and optimism soon vanished as billions of dollars poured in the country and least even has not flowed to Hazarajat for building the economic infrastructure. Peace and civility have been the reason ironically and regretfully behind inattention of government and foreign NGO's because it is falsely believed that instability and insurgency are closely linked with lack of development and poverty.
It should be noticed that though nothing has been done for Bamiyan residents and Hazara dominated regions, still they have remained peaceful and avoided embarking to arm and weapons.