History repeats itself so quickly…Everything is still difficult to comprehend. I am concerned about my family members who are absolutely petrified with the Taliban's rapid return to power in Afghanistan,” says 24-year-old Parwana Hussaini.
Parwana, a postgraduate student at D.A.V College here belongs to Afghanistan’s Bamyan province. She says, “Life in Afghanistan has become extremely risky for the citizens, especially women. The Taliban can’t be trusted despite their vows to honour women's rights within Islamic law. We have not forgotten the previous Taliban rule, when women suffered extensive human rights violations.”
“Over the last couple of days, the entire world has seen photographs and videos of Kabul airport where Afghans are desperately trying to escape another Taliban regime. The disturbing pictures of people falling from departing aircraft from Kabul says it all,” she says.
The extraordinary images of thousands of Afghans flooding the Kabul airport, people clinging on to a US military aircraft about to take off and Afghan nationals falling to death from the sky have now become powerful summations of fear and panic of being trapped in the bleak future that awaits the war-torn country.
As Taliban insurgents swept through Afghanistan without facing any resistance, returning to power after nearly two decades, millions of Afghan women are now fearful of a return of an oppressive regime, under which they lived from 1996 to 2001.
Parwana tells, “She is worried about her younger sister and brother who lives in Kabul and other family members who live in Bamyan. I was able to contact them on Tuesday after about a week. They are living under a constant state of fear and have not stepped out of home yet.”
“I came to India in 2016 and went to Afghanistan in March this year after four years. The situation became tense in April itself when the USA had announced to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan. I had planned to go back and serve my country after completing my post-graduation here. But the future seems very uncertain now. My family has told me not to return,” says Parwana while sharing her agony.