Yesterday brought traumatic memories to many Afghan lives. I know that from the emails and texts I received from women in Afghanistan. Though women constantly live in fear within their restricted lives, that particular day of the fall of Kabul on the 15th August is etched deeply in them.
Below is an extract from a text-letter sent to me last night from my contact T.
"Today, August 15th, Afghanistan's independence day was marked in the country's constitution by the Taliban. And our past official independence day, which was on August 27th, was declared null and void by the Taliban. Today, the black history of my country is one year old. The Taliban are celebrating this day very much.
While it has been a year since Afghan girls have not been to school, it has been a year since the Afghan people have lost their smiles, it has been a year since Afghan people have been searching for a bite of bread for their children. And for a year, Afghan people have been living their lives full of pain and sorrow. Today I am very sad and today I remember the bad memories of how the Taliban came for the first time and how they changed our lives in one go, and tears are flowing from my eyes.
Every moment in my mind there are images in which people were covered in blood everywhere on the roads. My mental state is really bad today. I can't control myself at all, and with tears in my eyes, I pray to the soldiers who fought until the last drop of blood so that these savages don't occupy the country, that their souls rest in peace. Today, the situation of all the people of Afghanistan is bad and they remember bad and heartbreaking incidents and shed tears.
While the people of Afghanistan are sad, the Taliban are very happy today and are dancing and stomping their feet.
This is a country whose government is happy and whose people are sad."
Photo Credits
Photo 1: A Taliban supporter holds an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan flag on the first anniversary of the fall of Kabul. [Ali Khara/Reuters]
Photo 2: Taliban fighters celebrate one year since they seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)