Khushnood Nabizada | |
|---|---|
| خوشنود نبیزاده | |
 | |
| Born | Khushnood Nabizada |
| Occupation | Founder / owner of Khaama Press |
| Website | |
Khushnood Nabizada (born in 1987) is an Afghan journalist, diplomat, peace campaigner, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and owner of Khaama Press, an Afghanistan-based news agency that reports specific political issues of the Afghanistan region. [1] [2]
Nabizada was born on 27 March 1987 in the Shibar District of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. He is an ethnic Hazara and follower of Shia Islam. [3] [4]
Around the age of eight, his family moved to Puli Khumri in Baghlan Province. When Nabizada was in 5th grade of school, he along with his entire family migrated to Rawalpindi, Pakistan, due to Taliban rule. He returned to Afghanistan in 2003, during the presidency of Hamid Karzai. [4]
According to 'Who is who in Afghanistan', a database by CIA for Afghanistan, Nabizada graduated from Habibia High School in 2006. [5] He obtained a bachelor's degree in business administration from Kardan University in 2012. And according to his LinkedIn profile, has obtained a Master's degree in Global Affairs and Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management by Arizona State University. [6] [7]
Khushnood has gone through a lot of unforeseen challenges in his life. First, he had to flee from his village in 1996 due to war, then he fled again in 1998 to Pakistan as a terrorist group called Taliban took over the city he used to live in. He returns back to Afghanistan in 2003, works hard for life and eventually life took him again into a situation that he had to flee and get resettled in the United States of America. He narrates this story in a conversation at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in July 2022. [8] This part has also been reflected in the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper that published a long story on him in January 2022. [9]
In October 2010, Nabizada founded Khaama Press, which quickly grew to be one of Afghanistan's most prominent online news services, publishing in English, Persian, and Pashto languages. Alongside his role at Khaama Press, Nabizada worked as a Senior Business Executive at the Insurance Corporation of Afghanistan from 2007 to early 2014. He was also a member of the National Unity Party of Afghanistan, also some place written as National Solidarity Party of Afghanistan. Khaama Press has earned recognition as a leading news agency, with its website being the most visited news site in Afghanistan in 2020. In 2016, Nabizada joined the Afghan government, serving as the chief of staff to the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, an appointment approved by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani. He was later appointed as chief of staff to the State Ministry for Peace under minister Sadat Mansoor Naderi in 2020, a position also approved by then-President Ashraf Ghani. [10] [4] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Nabizada survived a bomb blast on February 1, 2021. The incident happened in PD10, Kabul, while he was on the way to work. [15] Several national and international agencies, including Afghan and NATO officials, have condemned the attack. [16]
In August 2021, during Operation Allies Refuge, Nabizada and his family all escaped in American military planes from Afghanistan to Wisconsin in the United States. [17] They later moved to Virginia. Nabizada and his wife Razia have two daughters (Artisa and Armita) and one son (Arash). [4] He advocates for freedom of speech and human rights in Afghanistan. [18]
In December 2024, Khushnood Nabizada was inducted into two prestigious honor societies. He became a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, recognizing his achievements in political science and public policy. He also joined Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Business Honor Society, which honors academic excellence in business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). This section highlights notable academic achievements and recognitions throughout his educational journey. [19]
Baghlan is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan and located in northeastern Afghanistan. As of 2020, the province has a population of about 1,014,634.
Sunni Islam (Hanafi/Deobandi) is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Islam in Afghanistan began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries, with the last holdouts to conversion submitting in the late 19th century. It was generally accepted by local communities as a replacement of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, local tribes began converting to the new religion. Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 85% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias. Most Shias belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.
The National Assembly, also known as the Parliament of Afghanistan or simply as the Afghan Parliament, was the legislature of Afghanistan in various forms from the monarchy, republican, communist and liberal democratic periods between 1931 and 2021. It was a bicameral body, comprising two chambers:
Sayed Jafar Naderi is an ethnic Sadat-Ismaili who controlled Baghlan Province of Afghanistan during the early 1990s. He was born in Kayan, Baghlan and is also known as Sayyid-e Kayan. The son of Sayed Mansoor Naderi, previous Vice-President of Afghanistan, Sayed Jafar Naderi went to school in England at age 10, after his father was made a political prisoner. He was sent to the United States at age 13 where he became known as Jeff Naderi.
Markazi Behsud District is one of the districts of Maidan Wardak Province in Afghanistan. It is located less than an hour-drive west of Kabul and south Bamyan. The main town in the district is Behsud. The district has an estimated population of 134,852 people, majority of which are ethnic Hazaras.
Kayan is a town in Baghlan Province in north eastern Afghanistan It is located in the valley of Kayan, some 30 kilometres west of Dushi. It is the official seat of Sayed of Kayan; a ruling Historical title of Northern Afghanistan. The residents of Kayan valley are mostly members of Sadat and Hazara tribes loyal to Sayed Kayan who has been the official representative of Aga Khan in Afghanistan. These Sayyids follow Isma'ili Islam.
Sayed Kayan or Sayed of Kayan is a ruling title in northern areas of Afghanistan. Ismaili community in Afghanistan is led by this family of Syeds hailing from the historical valley of Kayan Baghlan.
Sayed Mansur Naderi is the incumbent Sayed of Kayan; leader of the Shi'a community of Afghanistan centred in Baghlan Province and also in other parts of Afghanistan. This community although Shia is smaller than the mainstream Twelver Shia community in Afghanistan.
Shia Islam in Afghanistan is practiced by a significant minority of the population. According to a 2021 Pew survey, 7% of Afghans followed Shia Islam, but other estimates have put the number as high as 20%. Afghanistan's Shia are primarily the Twelvers, while a minority are Ismailis.
Khaama Press is an online news service covering events in Afghanistan. It was established in October 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan, by Afghan journalist and entrepreneur Khushnood Nabizada.
The National Solidarity Party of Afghanistan or some other places written as National Unity Party of Afghanistan is a political party representing the Afghanistan's Ismaili Shia minority, largely found in Kabul Province, Baghlan Province, Bamyan Province, Balkh Province and Badakhshan province. As recently as 2020 it was one of 84 political parties registered with the Afghan Ministry of Justice, and headed by Sayed Mansur Naderi.
Farkhunda Zahra Naderi is an Afghan politician and women's right activist. She has been a member of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) chaired by Abdullah Abdullah. Previously, she served as a senior advisor to president Ashraf Ghani in United Nations Affairs. Before that she served as a member of Parliament from 2010–2015.
Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi is an entrepreneur and politician. He was Afghanistan's State Minister for Peace from 2020 to 2021 and Minister of Urban Development and Housing from 2015 - 2018.
State Ministry for Peace Affairs, officially known as State Ministry for Peace (SMP) was an Afghan government ministry responsible for peace process focused on to end ongoing wars in Afghanistan diplomatically. Founded in July 2019 by the government of Afghanistan, it advocated peace negotiations and future political stability in the country. SMP ministry was tasked with various drivers such as monitoring Afghanistan conflict and carrying negotiations with those individuals, groups and organisations involving Afghan war and Taliban insurgency in particular.
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were formed after the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan that had toppled the partially recognized Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. However, on 15 August 2021, the country was recaptured by the Taliban, which marked the end of the 2001–2021 war, the longest war in US history. This led to the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, led by President Ashraf Ghani, and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate under the control of the Taliban. While the United Nations still recognizes the Islamic Republic as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, this toppled regime controls no portion of the country today, nor does it operate in exile; it effectively no longer exists. The Islamic Emirate is the de facto ruling government. The US–Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020 in Qatar, was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
Mawlawi Mehdi Mujahid was an Afghan Hazara rebel who led around 200 Hazara fighters during the Balkhab uprising. He was a Taliban commander before rebelling against the Taliban until he was killed on 17 August 2022.
Rawnaq Naderi also known as Sayed Nooruddin Rawnaq Naderi was a distinguished Afghan poet whose works have contributed significantly to Persian literature. As the son of Sayed Kayan, a prominent religious leader of the Afghanistan Ismailis, Naderi's upbringing was deeply influenced by a rich cultural and religious environment.
The Eagle of Kayan, also known as the Kayan Eagle, was an architectural structure situated in the Kayan Valley of northern Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. Constructed in the early 1990s, this structure became a landmark, symbolizing cultural strength and architectural ingenuity. The Eagle of Kayan was officially inaugurated on December 10, 1996, in a grand ceremony attended by political and cultural figures from across Afghanistan.
Our family is Ismaili Muslim, a minority group making up less than 5% of the population in our country. We have always faced discrimination for being different, and also for being of Hazara ethnicity. Kayan, where we were heading, was the cradle of Ismaili forces led by Sayed Mansoor Naderi, the leader of Afghan Ismailis loyal to His Highness the Aga Khan, who was regarded as an intermediary and peacemaker between different Mujahideen groups back then.
