'Laughing' at Women's Terror to Sigh of Relief: What Afghans Who Fled Taliban-controlled Nation Say

Amid heart-breaking visuals of Afghans clinging onto planes and dying, some natives who managed to flee Kabul breathe a sigh of relief. Others, who belong to Afghanistan or who relatives in the war-torn country, have been anxious since the situation worsened.

While some shops have opened in capital Kabul and the Taliban told government staff to return to work, individual accounts paint a grim picture. A woman student wrote about her fears and experiences in The Guardian. “…the men standing around were making fun of girls and women, laughing at our terror. One said go and put on your chadari (burqa), another said it is your last days of being out on the streets, a third said I will marry four of you in one day,” she wrote, adding that they were not even allowed to use public transport.

An Afghan woman, who has been staying in Delhi for her treatment after the Taliban gouged her eyes out, told News18 that women and anyone who disobeys the Taliban die in the streets.

“The Taliban don’t allow women to visit male doctors, and at the same time, don’t let women study and work. So, then what is left for a woman? Left to die? Even if you think we are just reproductive machines, there is no common sense but pure hate. How does a woman deliver her child according to the dictum of these men with guns without medical care,” she added.

Here Are Reaction of People Who Have Fled Afghanistan or Have Roots There:

• The Afghan woman who wrote for The Guardian further said: “As a woman, I feel like I am the victim of this political war that men started. I felt like I can no longer laugh out loud, I can no longer listen to my favourite songs, I can no longer meet my friends in our favourite cafe, I can no longer wear my favourite yellow dress or pink lipstick.”

“I loved doing my nails. Today, as I was on my way home, I glanced at the beauty salon where I used to go for manicures. The shop front, which had been decorated with beautiful pictures of girls, had been whitewashed overnight.”

• Afghan researcher Mohammad Ehsan Saadat, whose work on corruption, women’s rights, human rights, and children’s rights could make him a target of Taliban reprisals, is “relieved to be in Canada”. “I told them that my family, everything is safe. No, explosions, no suicide attacks, no bombing, nothing. Just you should focus on your education,” Ehsan said after landing in Montreal. His wife, meanwhile, dreamed of learning how to drive in Canada, as well as registering for English language classes.

• A visibly upset Afghan woman, who landed in New Delhi on Sunday, said, “Our friends are going to get killed. They (Taliban) are going to kill us. Our women are not going to have any more rights.”

• Indian envoy Rudrendra Tandon, after his evacuation from Kabul along with other diplomatic staff, said that they are “very happy that it’s finally over and we’re back home safely, securely, without any accidents or harm to any of our people”. He added, “As you know, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan no longer exists and the situation is quite fluid now.”

READ: Onboard ‘Turbulent’ Plane from Kabul, Indian Envoy Thanks IAF; Assures Aid to Afghanistan

• Former Bigg Boss contestant Arshi Khan, whose family belongs to Afghanistan’s Yusuf Zaheer Pathan ethnic group, said that she is “deeply affected” by the horrifying images that emerged after Taliban takeover. “Men do not have such restrictions, they can do anything. Women are treated as slaves. My parents are also worried about Afghanistan, because they do have relationship with that country,” she added.

• Hakeem Jan Muffaker, a research scholar at the Kerala University here since 2019, has several horrendous tales of Taliban’s cruelty to share. The 38-year-old man is all anxious about the safety of his parents and siblings living in Kabul, especially his brother, a serving officer in the Afghan national army.

Accusing the neighbouring Pakistan for providing all support to the Taliban, the man said dictatorship would not last for long.”The Afghan people will stand firmly against them if they (Taliban) are trying to implement Pakistan’s dirty policies there, violating the rule of law, human freedom and rights,” he said.

• An Indian journalist has also written about her experience in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. She was to return back to India onto the Air India flight AI0244 scheduled for 16 August at 11 am. When she reached the Kabul airport early on Monday, she saw that the airport had been completely taken over by the Taliban and the main entry was blocked by 8-10 armoured vehicles.

While thousands wait outside the airport to catch the flight, she sheltered herself from the bullets that were fired in the air as many Afghan families were sitting with little children.

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