Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi

Sayed Rahmatullah Hashmi is a former envoy of the Taliban government in Afghanistan. 'Sayed' is an honorific title that indicates lineage with the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Also known simply as Rahmatullah, he is currently enrolled in the Non-degree Students Program at Yale University. In July 2006 it was announced that his application to pursue a bachelor's degree had been rejected by Yale College via the Eli Whitney Students Program. Non-degree special students may earn up to 18 course credits at Yale without re-applying, and Hashmi has said that he wishes to return to Yale for another year. The Eli Whitney Students Program, which is one of the four gates of admission into Yale College--the other three being freshmen, international and transfer students admission--admits a few non-traditional students each year into Yale College.

Biography

Rahmatullah was born in 1978 in Kohak, Afghanistan, to Pashtun parents. In 1982, his family moved to Pakistan. Rahmatullah grew up in a refugee camp in Pakistan and was educated in madrassas and the Pakistani school systemcite news | first=Jim | last=Lehrer | coauthors= | title=AFGHANISTAN'S AGONY | date=March 29, 2001 | publisher=PBS | url =http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june01/afghanistan_3-29.html | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-04-06 | language = ] . His schooling was fragmented, but he did emerge proficient in English as well as Pashto, Persian, and Urducite news | first=Chip | last=Brown | coauthors= | title=The Freshman | date=February 26, 2006 | publisher=New York Times | url =http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/magazine/26taliban.html?ex=1298610000&en=952caa29139c6927&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-04-06 | language = ] . In the fall of 1993, he took a high-school equivalency exam in Quetta, Pakistan and was awarded a degree.

In 1994, the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, and the 16-year old Rahmatullah joined them in Kandahar, Afghanistan as a computer operator and later, thanks to his language skills, as translator. He was appointed to the position of diplomat in the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1998. In this capacity he traveled around the world as a spokesperson for the Afghan foreign Ministry.

In 1997, Rahmatullah was present when CNN's Peter Arnett interviewed Osama Bin Laden. Speaking of the interview at the University of Southern California, during March 2001, Rahmatullah said :"CNN was in Afghanistan interviewing Bin Laden, in 1998. You have to be careful in listening to this. I was there, and they asked Bin Laden as to what was his thinking about the killing of civilians in Iraq.... CNN cut everything. Three-hours conversation was not there. The only thing they put, and it was not complete, the only clause that they said was that all American and British citizens must be killed."cite news | first=Sayyid | last=Rahmatullah Hashmi | coauthors= | title=Why we destroy statues? | date= | publisher=The Milli Gazette | url =http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/15042001/art28.htm | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-04-06 | language = ] [ [http://www.robert-fisk.com/taliban_lecture.htm Transcript] ]

In early 2001 he made a trip to the US. He met with US State Department officials, senators, and the media. At one point he encountered an anti-Taliban protester, a woman who tore off her burqa; he said to her "I'm really sorry for your husband. He might have a very difficult time with you." Footage of the incident was later incorporated into the Michael Moore documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11". [http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/03/13/educating_the_taliban_at_yale/ Educating the Taliban at Yale] , by Cathy Young, March 13, 2006]

During this 2001 tour he denied knowing anything about Osama Bin Laden until after the August 20, 1998 cruise missile attacks ordered by U.S. President Bill Clinton:"In 1998, they just sent cruise missiles into Afghanistan and they announced that they were trying to kill Osama bin Laden. We didn’t know Osama bin Laden then. I didn’t know him; he was just a simple man. So we were all shocked. I was one of those men who was sitting at home at night. I was called for an immediate council meeting and we all were told the United States have attacked Afghanistan. With 75 cruise missiles and trying to kill one man."cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Roving Afghanistan Ambassador Sayyid Rahmatullah Hashmi | date=March 10, 2001 | publisher=The Modern Religion | url =http://www.themodernreligion.com/jihad/afghan/speech.html | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-04-06 | language = ] . He would later claim that he was getting disillusioned with some Taliban policies by this point. Nevertheless, in an interview to the Yale Daily News, he supported most Taliban policies especially on security, integrity of the nation, and their ban on opium cultivation.

On August 30, 2001 as a translator to the Taliban foreign minister, Rehmatullah Hashmi reviewed charges of preaching christianity against foreign aid workers [http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,8543,-10504255641,00.html Taliban official: Rehmatullah Hashmi] , "The Guardian" ] . He spoke against Shelter Now International for preaching Christianity and demonstrated the evidence supporting Taliban charges of prosyletizing Christianity that had been gathered against the jailed American, European and Afghan missionary aid workers. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,548420,00.html Taliban will put aid workers on trial] , "The Guardian", August 30 2001] Afghan aid workers could have faced the death penalty for conversion to christianity and foreign aid workers face a variable jail sentence depending on the severity of the proselytizing. However, before the Taliban government fell in October 2001, all the missionaries were released unharmed. Later speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, the missionaries told news men that they were treated well during their two month long incarceration. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A14F63B5D0C748CDDA00894D9404482 Afghans Present Aid Team's Sins, Complete With Theology Lesson] , "New York Times", September 7 2001 - [http://oldweb.uwp.edu/academic/criminal.justice/afghbkup.htm mirror] ]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Rahmatullah's family lived in Pakistan. During the US invasion of Afghanistan, Rahmatullah worked for CNN's Nic Robertson as a translator and a personal assistant. After the war he lived in Quetta, Pakistan, for most of the next three years, reading astronomy books, and completing his unfinished high school education.

Yale attendance controversy

In 2004, an American friend, Mike Hoover — a CBS cameraman who had sponsored his 2001 trip — suggested applying to college in the US. In 2005, Rahmatullah was admitted to Yale as a nondegree student. On February 26 2006, The New York Times Magazine published a profile of Rahmatullah, making his status as a Yale student widely known [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/magazine/26taliban.html?ex=1298610000&en=952caa29139c6927&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss The Freshman: Talib in Luce Hall] , "New York Times", February 26 2006 [http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/26/america/web.0226talib.full.php# mirrored] at the "International Herald Tribune"] . The article indicated that his thinking had changed considerably since the time of the Taliban. "I regret when people think of the Taliban image and then think of me — that feeling Americans have after they know I was affiliated with them is painful to me." About his experience at Yale, he told the "New York Times Magazine", "Everything here is based on reason." In his previous life, "you can win any argument if you bring up the Islamic argument. You can't reason against religion. But you cannot change Afghanistan overnight. You can't bring the Enlightenment overnight."

In 2006, conservative sentiment arose opposing Rahmatullah studying at Yale University and questioning outright his presence in the United States. On March 8, 2006, Yale alumnus Clinton Taylor launched a campaign intended to discourage alumni donations until Rahmatullah’s presence at the school is better explained by the administration. The initiative has been called “NailYale". [http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/ClintonTaylor/2006/03/08/189044.html Giving Yale the finger] , "Townhall.com", March 8 2006 ] [http://www.townhall.com/blogs/nailyale/clint%20taylor/story/2006/03/14/189869.html Nail Yale: Fighting the Talibanality of Evil in the Ivy League] , "Townhall.com", March 14 2006 ] .

On March 23, 2006, writing in OpinionJournal.com, John Fund reported that Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) had sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, requesting an explanation regarding the circumstances surrounding Ramatullah's visa application and the subsequent visa extension [http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110008127 Taliban Man at Yale: The story thus far] , "Wall Street Journal", March 23 2006 ] .

As of April 2006, Yale has published the following comment on its website:

: "Yale has allowed Mr. Hashmi to take courses for college credit in a part-time program that does not award Yale degrees... We hope that his courses help him understand the broader context for the conflicts around the world... According to the State Department, Ramatullah Hashmi was issued U.S. visas in 2004 and 2005, first on a tourist visa and then in 2005 on a student visa. The mandatory procedures were followed, which, in his case, included vetting through an interagency security clearance process. He was cleared by all agencies [http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/06-03-29-00.all.html University statement on Mr. Hashmi's enrollment as a part-time, non-degree student] , "Yale University Office of Public Affairs", March 29 2006] ."

A recent non-scientific poll conducted by the Yale Herald — a student-run weekly newspaper — which was answered by 2,000 undergrads, concluded that 50% of Yale supported Hashmi's acceptance and about 25% opposed it.

Critics such as 1999 Yale alumnus David Bookstaber, who contributes to the NailYale blog, acknowledge that "reactions run the spectrum" from outrage to support. One student leader of Yale's , a Jewish group, defended him, saying "Applying to Yale in the first place and while here, participating in Yale’s ‘Jews and Muslims’ dialogue group, Hashmi seems to want to expand his mind. Hashmi, by learning here, has already changed his approach to the world." An unnamed professor pointed out that members of the new Afghan government are former Taliban and that prior to 1998 Hamid Karzai was associated with the Taliban. Zachariah Victor, doctoral candidate in music and member of Yale's Graduate and Professional Student Senate [http://www.yale.edu/gpss/] , blasted conservative critics as "outsiders" who attack universities because they do not have "reason, science or history on their side" in matters of policy (these are Victor's own views; the Graduate and Professional Student Senate has no public stance on the admission of Hashmi to Yale College) [http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/03/31/yale The Elite Ex-Taliban] , by Rob Capriccioso, "Inside Higher Ed", March 31, 2006] .

In July 2006, Rahmatullah was denied admission to the Eli Whitney Students Program, Yale's degree-granting program for non-traditional students. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/07/06/yale.taliban.ap/index.html]

See also

* Taliban

* List of Taliban leaders

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mQg0LivwG8 "His appearance on Charlie Rose on March 26, 2001"]

* [http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110008082 "You've Got Mail (It's From Yale): A university official calls Taliban critics "retarded" while the university maintains a stony silence] , "Wall Street Journal", March 13 2006

* [http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110008179 Ivory Tower Stonewall: A 9/11 survivor asks Yale to explain why it admitted the Taliban Man] , "Wall Street Journal", April 3 2006

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