PANAJI: Two years ago, when 24-year-old Arif got a scholarship under the Indian Council for Cultural Relations to do MBA at the Goa University, he came with hopes and dreams of returning to Afghanistan and contributing to his country's development.
Today, his dreams lie shattered, hopes lost and all that he wants is that he and his family be allowed to work and stay in India.
“Just imagine… we worked hard, studied and fought to build a democratic country in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. My wish was to return and serve my country, but everything has been ruined," says Arif.
“We are not asking for any financial help. We want the Indian government to help us with permanent residence,” says Arif, whose wife joined him in India as a dependent before their daughter was born last year.
“Since I’m on a student visa, I just want to be able to take up a job here as someone who has studied here and who has a daughter born here. We only request for our visas to be extended for some time, or permanent asylum,” he says.
After getting his MBA degree, Arif was scheduled to return to his country to a higher post at its election commission, where he worked for a year before coming to Goa.
The family had packed their bags and left for Mumbai recently for one final medical check-up for their one-year-old daughter’s heart condition, and were to proceed to Afghanistan when they heard the news of the Taliban takeover.
Arif had already given an authorisation letter to another student to collect the degree on his behalf.
He also deleted all photographs of him, his wife and his daughter — all taken in Goa — from social media and from their phones, fearing that on their return to Afghanistan, they would be considered "infidels".
“For a modern, educated and civilised person, who has completed his MBA specialising in HR in a foreign country, I don’t see any future in Afghanistan,” says Arif, whose parents are farmers in Afghanistan.
The election commission is the backbone of any democratic system, he says, and he fears the Taliban will specifically target people like him should he return, for not supporting them but the “foreign occupiers”.
When his daughter Yildiz (meaning ‘star’ in his native Uzbeki) was born at GMC last July and had to undergo a heart surgery, well-wishers contributed towards the costly operation that was done in Mumbai in January this year.
He worries for his daughter’s future under the Taliban, should he return.
“She may not be allowed to go to school under the Taliban. We are not willing to go back, at any cost. We are just seeking help from the Indian government,” says Arif, whose monthly stipend of Rs 25,500 ended in August along with his course.
His relatives have told him he is lucky to be out of the country, and he says he doesn’t trust the Taliban or believe they have changed for the better. In touch with family, he is aware of the situation on the ground.
“The Taliban can easily impose their own beliefs, especially in villages where there is no internet connectivity and where people are not able to raise their voice,” he says.
“My family has told me that they have started taking attendance in mosques and threatened to either beat or fine those who don’t come for Namaz five times a day. They have started giving high positions in the government to their own fighters. Just imagine the ministries being run by these religious guys.”
What the Taliban is telling the media and what they are doing is very different, he says.
“They want the world to recognise them and are trying to portray a good image. But see what happened at the Kabul airport. This has not happened in the last 20 years... This only proves that they have turned more aggressive and have a very hostile mind."
