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Afghanistân - A Personal (first-hand) Glimpse - pre-attacks
Mahan Hussain Mirza
We crossed the Chaman border at Dhuhr. The Talibân
received us as official guests of the state. We boarded the Toyota Land Cruiser
and 4x4 pick-ups. The road to Kandahar was devastated. One person sincerely
asked, breaking the eerie silence, "was there ever a road here?" Red signs on
either side marked the danger area - land mines. There were occasional huts
along the way selling juice and chips. The terrain was rocky and desert like.
Little girls, boys, men (and women farther away) would be seen from time to time
with shovels (as if repairing the road for the travellers) with outstretched
hands for help, staring at us as we indifferently zoomed past, leaving them in a
trail of dust. As we entered the city of Kandahar, we saw a sign pointing
towards the clinic of Dr. Laila Siddique, a woman. We arrived the day Mulla
Rabbani, the prime minister, was being laid to rest. As we waited in the burial
ground, there was a terrible sand storm approaching from the north. It could be
seen coming in, taking the entire horizon within its grip. As it hit, breathing
became a problem, and vision impossible. A young Afghan boy offered to share
his chadar, a large piece of fabric that is part of their outfit. I
accepted, my anxiety quelled with his calm poise and comforting smile. He knew
that I was not from here.
We shared the same chadar for prayer. Kandahar has cool nights and warm days, the breeze at night like a cool silky garment. The state guesthouse has flowers outside where we would sit and gaze at the stars sipping Afghan tea. It is the city of Mulla 'Umar, known as Amîr-ul-Mu'minîn (commander of the faithful). We met him in his compound just outside the city. He was moved there after an attempt on his life in which he lost his wife and child. Beautiful and lush Afghan gardens with grape vines and pomegranate trees surround the compound, which is in the shade of a hill identical to Jabal An-Nur (where the first revelation of the Qur'ân was received).
Mulla 'Umar is extremely shy, soft-spoken, and a man of few words. He led the prayer and hugged us all, including a gentleman in our group without a beard. He has one eye, the other lost in battle against the Russians. We met other leaders and ministers of the Talibân government and heard their story.
They told us that before they took over, the warlords had divided the territories amongst themselves and no woman or boy was safe from their desires. The warlords would chase women down, some of who chose to throw themselves out their apartment window on the fourth floor rather than be captured by these monsters. They refused a pregnant woman transit in order to see her in labour. They mercilessly taxed every passer-by. In the face of these circumstances, the Talibân rose, disarmed the nation, and drove out the warlords (who now oppose them as the Northern Alliance). The Talibân (students) stood up against these horrific circumstances, and governance has now been thrust upon them.
They are looking for Muslims to come and invest in building the nation, and appealed to us to take their case to our people. Their servants could not be told apart from their leaders, reminiscing the romantic and mystic days of the pious Caliphate of Islâm. Our flight to Kabul was in a military aircraft. We boarded from the rear cargo area. Some sat on benches and some on the floor - I was on the floor. The flight lasted an hour and ten minutes. We were received in Kabul with the highest state protocol. Two shining black Mercedes and a coaster took us to Aryana Hotel, where we were served Pepsi and that irresistible Afghan tea. From the hotel we could see the site where Najibullâh was hanged.
Kabul is six thousand feet high, surrounded by hills, with natural greenery and bodies of water, and cold. We toured the city with the Taliban. We saw the hills that Dostum and Ahmed Shah Masood used to fight each other and destroy Kabul in the process. No amount of exaggeration is possible to describe the rubble that remains of the once glimmering city. I sat in the coaster, silently remembering ayât of the Qur'ân to calm myself. We passed the school district, where we were told that the university had a thousand women studying to be doctors. There were programs in place to include girls in primary education in the mosques, but no arrangements yet for older girls due to requirements of segregation. The Ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel is now a mosque. In the bazaar, I converted a hundred rupees into Afghan currency to give to the poor, and got a hundred and twenty thousand in return. On the return flight to Kandahar, I got a place in the cockpit standing behind the co-pilot.
The crew was in traditional Afghan garb, speaking Pushto. The controls were in Russian. We returned to Quetta after Friday prayers in Kandahar. I made the mistake of taking out my remaining Afghan currency to give to poor children and women outside the mosque and was practically knocked down in frenzy. Before mounting the car I called a little Afghan boy from amongst the crowd who had been one of those chasing me and gave him five thousand. I left with a wrenched heart, looking another beautiful little child in the eyes as we drove off - her hand outstretched. I still had money in my pocket.