‘Taliban Says Nice Things On TV, Do The Opposite On Ground’
Nasima Ahmadi, 32, a Hazara Afghan from Mazar-i-Sharif came to Delhi when her city was surrounded by Taliban gunmen last month. Ahmadi says she cannot think of a dignified life under Taliban rule
I belong to Shia Hazara community in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. Last month, the city was surrounded by Taliban gunmen and they were close to capture it. Desperate to leave Mazar-i-Sharif before the violence reached us, we applied for Indian medical visa. While I manage to bring my two children and in-laws here to Delhi, my own parents are still there and I fear for them.
In the one month that I am here in Bhogal (South Delhi) the situation is completely changed in Afghanistan. Of whatever little I have spoken to my family back in Afghanistan, the situation is not what the TV channels are showing. The Taliban militia forcibly enter into people’s houses at night, and conduct ruthless searches… I wonder what they are looking for. They also take away young girls with them at gunpoint and these women are never heard of again. One of my own uncles has been killed by the Taliban.
On TV, the Taliban leaders say girls can go to schools and study, they can take up a job, there are no restrictions… this and that. But they are telling blatant lies. Girls are not allowed to go to school, nor work. And our community (Shia Hazaras) faces the harshest persecution.
Our only crime is that we belong to the Hazara community. Can you imagine belonging to a community being a crime in any other part of the world? We cannot go to Afghanistan now; Hazaras cannot think of a life under Taliban rule.
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When the Taliban was in power last time in the late 1990s and we were in Afghanistan, the situation was horrible. The Taliban barred schooling for women. That is why I couldn’t get a proper education. That is why I always wanted to provide good education to my children. After the Taliban was rooted out of power, the situation started to improve and life got better for the common man. Now when the barbarians are back in power, the horror has returned to Afghanistan.
There is nothing worse than having forced to leave one’s homeland. We had constructed a new house recently but had to leave everything behind. We could only bring our savings and some clothes. We don’t know now if the house is abandoned. What keeps us going is our resolve to find a better life for our children.
There are only two more months before our visa expires, and we have been going to various embassies in New Delhi for help and asylum. We haven’t been able to get any help so far though. Everyone gives us an email id and asks us to send our details, problem and why we want a visa. I recently went to the American Embassy for help too. We are trying to get a visa so we can go to the US.
My husband is employed in Dubai. So I have to do the running around here to find a safe shelter for my children and family. If nothing happens in the next two months that our visa for India holds, I do not know what shall be our status. I request everyone reading this to help the displaced Afghans.
(The picture is representational as Ahmadi declined to share her photograph for safety reasons)
As Told To Mamta Sharma
