The Afghanistan Diary

 We are going to punish somebody for this attack, but just who or what will be blown to smithereens for it is hard to say. Maybe Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan or Iraq, or possibly all three at once. Who knows? 

                          Hunter. S Thompson

                         (The day after 9/11)

Despite the fact that since the seventh century, the sultanate of Afghanistan kept invading and mindlessly plundering India, an unfortunate pattern which continued well into the nineteenth century, the post-independence India has been able to disregard the past and forge ahead in a cultural and trade relationship with Afghanistan, and one that goes beyond the ostensible. So much so that even the new Parliament House in Kabul is India's contribution toward the country's reconstruction efforts, along with crucial road building projects and clean water initiatives. By being an active participant in Afghanistan's foray into modernity, India has proven itself to be its true friend and ally.

My first introduction to Afghanistan came in the form of a short story called Kabuliwala. It was part of my third grade Hindi text book. A translation from the original Bengali, penned by Rabindranath Tagore, the tale of Kabuliwala revolves around the touching relationship between five-year-old  Mini and a dry fruit vendor from  Kabul, Afghanistan.  

Through Kabuliwala, the kids of our generation imbibed their first few facts about Afghanistan and its people. First and foremost, Afghanistan is a country rich in dry fruits, and its people are family-loving, honest, hard-working, true to their word, but somewhat hot-blooded. The pathan suit, reminiscent of the people of that region became all a rage with the adolescent boys in North India, and continue to remain so to this day. 

One proverb in Hindi goes as follows: जो सुख चुबारे, न बल्ख न बुखारे।, 

meaning the comfort found in the simple surroundings of one's home cannot be equalled even by the extravagant magnificence of  Balkh or Bukhara. Once upon a time, not so long ago, Balkh, an ancient city in northern Afghanistan, (and Bukhara in Uzbekistan) was not only a thriving trade centre but also reputed for its brilliant architecture. Even Marco Polo described it as a "noble and great city". So iconic was its fame, that it effortlessly slipped into the local jargon of the people of North India, thus becoming a part of their subconscious memory. 

Interestingly, the legendary character of Gandhari from the epic  poem Mahabharata, hailed from Gandhar, which is apparently the same as the present day Kandahar, the second largest city in Afghanistan. A few millennia later, this very place would see the fusion of two great civilizations, Indian and Greek, manifesting in the form of Greco-Buddhist art, also known as the Gandhara school. The exquisite paintings of Ajanta and Ellora caves, dating back to 2nd century B.C. bear testimony to this ethereal synthesis of the ancient world's two highly evolved cultures.

In the eighties, Dharmatma, a Bollywood blockbuster, more or less based on the movie Godfather, brought home to the Indian public the hauntingly rugged natural beauty of Afghanistan...just a young girl then, I fell in love with the enchanting starkness of the landscape and felt an immediate connection to it, as though I had meandered amongst its hills in one of my many lives.

In America, I sought out the luxuriousness of Afghan throws: their simple elegance added a touch of informality and sophistication, both at once. I also discovered the subtle flavours of the Afghani cuisine in our neighborhood restaurant called, Afghan Kabab Express on Central Av., which soon became our family's favourite hangout. Its friendly crew and the tantalizing aroma of gourmet dishes, such as borani banjan, baked nans, kofta and aushak lured us into its homely atmosphere time and again.

It is no wonder that the recent developments in Afghanistan, mainly the foreseeable debacle of its puppet government followed by the shameful desertion of its president, and the successive surrender of its well-trained military equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry to the crudely-armed Taliban, has not only taken the global community by surprise, but also affected me at a personal level. I feel disappointed with the west, and with the coalition of 36 NATO nations, overstaying its visit even after the successful completion of the designated mission, under the pretext of nation-building.  As Craig Whitlock in his book The Afghanistan Papers points out:

"Soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives".

So, is it  surprising that despite having poured in close to a trillion dollars,  Afghanistan continues to remain crippled, morally, economically, and otherwise?

‘Yankee, go home!’ The slogan has resurfaced. The phantom  of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Iraq has resurrected itself to haunt the Americans once again. Today, US foreign policy and defence strategists must be wracking their brains wondering what to do with themselves for the next 20 years. Where to pitch the tent, which people to free from the shackles of terrible tyrants, and how to make a quick buck in the process? As a couple, living in our neighborhood, and both working for the U.S. military once confided in me, "Just one more stint in Afghanistan or Iraq, and we are all set for life". Really? At the end of the day, is that what it amounts to?

I can only hope and pray that Afghanistan doesn't lose this opportunity towards self-determination. Nobody wants to see the country revert to middle ages or descend into protracted conflict. The incumbent government  would need to  rise to the occasion and help fulfil the aspirations of the Afghani people, and put a halt to another 'stint', garbed in the noble livery of democracy...once and for all.

Note: Today, Aug 20, 2021 marks the 23rd anniversary of the surprise U.S. missile attack on terrorist-related targets in Afghanistan, ordered by the then President Bill Clinton. Pundits, politicians and media couldn't but be mistrustful of its impeccable timing which coincided with the President's embroilment in the notorious Monica Lewinsky affair. Speculation was rife that the strikes on a faraway foreign land was an easy way to deflect  attention of the media from his own travails.