Newborn Hurt in Stampede, Delhi-Based Afghan Woman Cries For Family Stuck In Kabul

For the Afghan refugees across the world, the images of Kabul international airport are much more than a news update of a crisis in an Islamic state. Some have immediate family members in those crowds gathered at the runway. They have loved ones begging for a chance to live a safe life.

Afghans living in India are deeply worried about the future of their families back home and are torn between helplessness and a desperation to be with them.  Sharing the plight of her family members in Kabul, Mariam Wahidi (name changed on request) spoke to SheThePeople about her cousin who had to sit at the international airport with her two-month-old infant for forty eight hours.

"She just wanted to board any flight in order to escape what may become of her and her family under the new regime. She was finally able to board a flight to Uzbekistan on Tuesday." In the rush to board, Wahidi said that her cousin's baby got injured in the stampede that took place at the airport because of the massive crowd.

Afghan Woman In Delhi Gives Her Account:

"I still have so many relatives, aunts and uncles who are stuck in the country. They are trying to escape while the US troops are still present in the country because after the airport comes under Taliban rule, nobody will be able to leave, " she said.

Wahidi claimed that the Taliban have started searching for people who worked at international delegations before. They are also collecting passports.

Wahidi received a call from a female friend who worked at an international embassy. Her friend feared that she might also come under the new regime's radar and begged for help. Wahidi said,  "She was terrified thinking about what the Taliban will do to her if they found her papers."

Wahidi and her family are grateful for Delhi's safe environment but they can't stop thinking about their loved ones in Afghanistan. The current situation reminds her of the horrifying conditions she grew up in before her parents fled to Pakistan during the 1990s.

She remembers several sleepless nights she spent as a child in Kabul because of what she saw during the days. "I still cannot shake the image of fragmented body parts of a journalist lying right before my eyes. It had become difficult to sleep after that," she said. She remembers how her mother covered her in an oversized burqa while leaving the country.

During her years in Pakistan, Wahidi faced a personal loss in Afghanistan. In one of the many bomb blasts by the Taliban in the country, Wahidi's sister got killed along with her husband. That is when Wahidi had to make a trip back to Afghanistan to fetch their three children.

In 2011, Wahidi came to India as the conditions for Afghan refugees started to get worse in Pakistan. She came with her sister's kids, found her husband in Delhi and got married.

"I feel like since the day I was born I have been seeing bomb blasts, violence and complete unrest. People were running for their life then and 20 years since then they are still doing the same. Afghani people of my generation have never really lived a normal life. Now, little kids are made to see the same horrors. Will they also live a life like ours?" Wahidi asked me.

The Taliban has so far maintained that they have pardoned everyone. They also said that women in the country will have their rights under sharia law. Wahidi does not believe them.

"I have seen what they are capable of. My uncle was almost gassed inside a container when some Taliban fighters decided to have fun. Right now the Taliban is just doing politics, they will show their true colours after the US troops entirely leave Afghanistan."

"They are lying."

Wahidi has tried to reach out to the Indian authorities to help evacuate her family members and she remains hopeful.

"I am angry and frustrated. Even our children are filled with anger. We are the people of Afghanistan, it is our land. We don't want our country to go to the Taliban or any other stranger. It is a matter of respect. With the Taliban capturing our country, it will cease to be Afghanistan, " Wahidi said.

Wahidi is a woman in her 30s living as a refugee in Delhi. As the refugee colonies are dominated by fundamentalist men of Afghani society, she is unable to find a job or sit with her husband at their family's shop. When I asked her if she has given up, she said, "Zubaan badalne see behtar hai ki gali badal do." It is a popular saying in her language which means when you can't change people's mentality, change your ways.