Human Concern above National Interests
H.E. President Hamid Karzai
05/22/2005
Commencement Speech By
His Excellency Hamid Karzai
President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
At Boston University Commencement
Human Concern above National Interests
Boston, USA
22 May 2005
President Chobanian,
Senator Kerry and Fellow Honourees,
Distinguished Guests, and
Dear Graduates,
I am delighted to be sharing this special day
with all of you. Boston University has a well-earned global
reputation and it is my great privilege to be receiving an honourary
degree from this fine institution. For those of you who felt
that four years was a long time to wait for your degree, well
it took me 47 years to get mine from Boston University! But
then, looking at our campus here, and speaking with members
of the faculty and administration earlier, I can say it was
well worth the wait! I congratulate you all very warmly for
your accomplishment today.
Your Commencement today is indeed the celebration
of some of the best years of your lives. It is also your stepping
stone to the future. With the knowledge you have gained, today
you are ready to embark on a new journey - a journey that
will not only shape your own lives, but will also lead you to
affect the lives of others. You are going to become the future
leaders of the United States, a country of unparalleled power
and influence in the world today. And you are going to assume
the responsibility that comes with that power.
Dear Graduates,
My own commencement, some 23 years ago, was also
a stepping-stone, but to a different future.
After my graduation, I had no home to return to because my home
country had been invaded by the Soviet Union. From university,
I was ushered into the life of a refugee in a neighbouring country,
where I joined with my people in the struggle to liberate our
country and build a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
A lot has changed in the world since I was your
age, but regrettably, the world is still beset by conflict,
by poverty and human suffering, by injustice that violate the
basic values of humanity.
You are the class that began in September 2001,
and as such, you have been provoked, perhaps more so than others,
to reflect on one of the gravest dangers facing our world today
- terrorism that is. I believe for most of you the dreadful
memory of that ominous day will never fade - when thousands
of innocent people in your country were indiscriminately attacked
by the messengers of hatred and doom. Indeed, the events of
9/11 shocked the whole world as much as it shocked you here
in America.
However, terrorism in the world was not born on
9/11. In fact, for many years before September 2001, the peril
of terrorism that came to Afghanistan on the heels of invasion,
interference and violence, took the lives of thousands of Afghans.
Regrettably, the United States and other countries
that had the power - and hence the responsibility -
did not see it compatible with their ‘national interests’
to address the plight of the Afghan people then. Afghanistan
was, thus, left vulnerable to the interference of other countries
in our region who, in turn, saw their ‘national interests’
in establishing control over Afghanistan at whatever cost.
Dear Graduates,
During your years here at Boston, you have sought
knowledge, but you have also learned significant lessons from
examining the events of the world around you. I expect that
you will use your education - and your values -
to question some of the established concepts and wisdoms. In
particular, I urge you to question the notion of ‘national
interests’, especially when it is narrowly defined and
pursued at the expense of other people, where it justifies the
inflicting of pain on others, and where it allows the neglect
of human suffering. I urge you to discover how moral imperative
must also drive our actions even when there are no economic
or political motives.
I believe a redefinition of the prevailing notion
of ‘national interests’ on the basis of a fundamental
moral premise is the way forward to our common future. After
all, it is our humanity that ultimately brings us together,
while the pursuit of narrow interests divides us.
My appeal to you as the leaders of tomorrow, as
people who will be in positions to make decisions of consequence,
is to allow morality and a sense of fundamental concern for
humanity guide your decisions. When you see on the news, or
read in the newspaper, that so many people were killed in places
far away, do not let these numbers become mere abstractions
to you. These are real people, like you and I, with families
and friends, with real feelings of grief and pain.
We must not turn away when we hear cries of the hungry. We must
not stand by when we see the killing and terrorising of the
innocent. We should not wait until hundreds and thousands of
our fellow human beings have died - as occurred in Afghanistan
- before we act. Every time we ignore the suffering of
others or stand by and watch, we not only act against our own
interests, but we violate a part of our humanity.
And we do not have to wait for our governments
to save people from misery because it may be just too late for
many. As individuals we can make a difference as well. Not too
long ago, I watched a documentary film by the British artist,
Bob Geldof, which told the story of the famine in Ethiopia two
decades ago.
One can feel but a sense of utter despair as a
human being when one sees human misery at an appalling scale.
Bob Geldof was one individual whose concern for humanity saved
thousands of children in Ethiopia.
His benevolence was not simply an act of charity, but a fundamental
step to draw people from corners of the world for the common
cause of humanity.
In a different context, the coming together of
the world is demonstrated in Afghanistan today, where people
from more than 50 countries with different cultures and faiths
are working together to rebuild our country and uproot terrorism.
This remarkable convergence of civilizations in Afghanistan
has rekindled our hopes, secured our lives and unleashed our
energies to rebuild our war shattered country.
Thanks to that help and our people’s determination,
today Afghanistan is a free country, taking steady steps towards
a stable, prosperous and progressive society. After decades
of trouble, we have an enlightened and progressive constitution,
we have an elected government and are looking forward to electing
our parliament in September.
After decades of stagnation, our civil society is once again
vibrant, our economy is growing fast and we are becoming a hub
of trade in the region.
Of course, challenges like the drug economy, remnants
of terrorism and crime threaten to reverse our successes. However,
these will not surmount our resolve and the international commitment
to succeed.
Over the past three years, through our experiences
in what has been a truly global effort to rebuild Afghanistan,
we have demonstrated what the future of the world could hold.
Afghanistan today represents a model of partnership in the world
- a co-operation of civilizations in fact.
Dear Graduates,
I say again that your values must continue to
guide your actions as you embark on your new journey, and assume
greater responsibility.
Our world will remain stratified and divided by exclusive narrowly-defined
interests, unless YOU seek to build bridges of understanding
and co-operation? Suffering in other parts of the world will
continue to undermine your security and prosperity, unless YOU
seek to address it? Moral obligations to others will continue
to be an after-thought, unless YOU decide to reinvigorate our
common humanity across all our divisions. And finally, your
generation will also be judged on indifference to hunger, poverty
and misery in the world, unless YOU seize opportunities to make
a difference?
As you commence a new beginning today, take with
you my warmest congratulations.
And I urge you to make the right decisions -
decisions that will lead to the building of bridges, to prevailing
of our common humanity across our divisions, and to a difference
in a world that is still faced with challenges.
Thank you.
