Afghans Fear For Their Future – OpEd

With the Taliban entering Kabul on August 15, to seize power in Afghanistan, the somber history is repeating once again. I do not have enough words to explicitly describe the swell of my emotions about how tough this situation is. I am not surprised either, to resemble this tragedy with the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, the 10/26 attack on Taj Hotel in Mumbai, the 2008 Christmas massacres in Congo, and many more. For Afghans, this is nothing less than a nightmare.

While observing this difficult situation facing innocent Afghans, my heart bleeds, everyone’s hearts bleed every moment they contemplate why and how the whole of the world abandoned Afghanistan. However, the world has already experienced the consequences of the extremist groups holding control of the power of a country, particularly Afghanistan – a strategically significant South Asian country. Therefore, the Afghan government should have been fully supported in the fight against the Taliban and its sponsors.

Why do Afghans fear the Taliban’s return to power? 

Every young Afghan — including me — always dreamed of serving Afghanistan and Afghans. Our goals have always been to get a good education and then use it in getting the country’s identity and dignity on international platforms and to have it go hand in hand with the world. However, again thinking of my goals and visions for Afghanistan that are getting drowned, breaks my heart, I cannot control my eyes from bursting into tears while putting these words here. This is so unjust – so heartbreaking, so much so, I would not even want my enemies to face such a situation. Simply the world and Afghan politicians betrayed us and threw us into the hands of wolves.

Over the last twenty years, the new Afghan generation achieved much, and the society is quite different from the past, especially their advanced mindset is what makes them different. They are well-educated and intelligent as well as patriotic. They have access to information technology and are well-aware of the affairs of today’s world. Unlike the Taliban’s extremist ideology, the new generation knows that democracy is the solution to every political problem. But on the opposite side, the Taliban’s fundamentalist ideology opposes the broad-minded mindset of the new generation. The new generation fears the possible ramifications they may face in terms of their access to technology, education, socio-economic development, and other basic social rights. 

In the last few days, everyone including government employees are stranded in their houses in an account to safeguard their lives from the Taliban’s reprisal. Many have been trying to flee the country, girls and women who are more prone to the Taliban’s return into power are even more scared of the perilous ramifications. This is evident to the whole of the world that the Taliban’s fabricated Sharia law may limit women’s access to their basic social rights.

Afghans Fleeing the Country

Stranded once again in turmoil, Afghanistan enters a new phase of a political skirmish. This phase is crucial and a destiny-maker. Nonetheless, educated, intelligent and young cadres are desperately trying to flee the country as soon as possible. Many youngsters have burned their certificates, while many others including a 19-year football player fell to death while trying to stow away on a US military plane taking off from Kabul airport. Toddlers getting stuck in the barrier fence on a wall to the airport while their mothers getting crammed in the crowd outside the airport. Others rush to the airport without the necessary documents to flee the country. Afghans are fleeing as if a huge dramatic catastrophe is going to come – and is already underway.

Overall, everything happened suddenly and unwittingly – something we could only imagine. Afghans have no president today, no cabinet, no proper governance system, and overall, no one to lead the country. These days Afghans simply resemble a herd with no shepherd, they are sad, yet hopeful for a bright tomorrow. 

*Hamayun Khan is an independent researcher, and currently works as a finance specialist at the Siena School, MD, USA. He can be reached at [email protected]