English teacher and journalist who was evacuated from Afghanistan to UK, Mursal Rasa Jamili, reflects on the current crisis in her country.
As we’re reading and watching the heartbreaking news from Afghanistan, all the devastation and chaos there, it’s important to hear stories from those who have been living in the country their whole life until the Taliban took over. And once that happened, they had to get out. So we got in touch with one young Afghan woman, Mursal Rasa Jamili. Mursal is a student, English teacher and journalist, she was evacuated to the UK from Kabul with her two sisters. She shares with us her take on the current crisis in Afghanistan.
I remember very well the very day the Taliban took over Kabul. It happened at about 10-11 a.m., before that everything was so normal, everyone went to their job, university. And then the news spread that Kabul fell. Suddenly all universities, organizations were closed, everyone thought that everything they’d achieved was going to be destroyed. It was a very dangerous day. This was especially true for women who went to work in the morning wearing normal clothes. And they were afraid of how to get back home because now there were Talibans all over the city. For the first few days the Taliban made it look like they are very good people not wanting to harm anyone. Women could wear normal clothes. But then they began hunting, beating women.
I think the Taliban haven’t changed at all, they’re the same as they were 20 years ago. They search door to door for the people they targeted. They don’t value minorities. They don’t respect the minorities’ beliefs, they implement their own type of clothes. There was a case of a boy beaten for just wearing jeans.
I have to say that before the Taliban takeover we could go to university and have a job. We had a little bit of freedom and opportunities. Though there were some explosions and insecurity. But now people in Afghanistan are very worried about their future. There’s no job there. Many are afraid that they may die from hunger. All the organizations, stores are closed, the new government doesn’t pay anything.
I don’t trust the Taliban at all and I feel the situation is going to only get worse. I feel very bad for people who work in the military, government employees, their families and relatives. The Taliban don’t let people take pictures, videos of what’s happening and share those online. There were cases of them killing families of journalists.
Do you feel that there’s a feeling of hopelessness inside the people currently living in your country?
Yes, I can surely say so. Many people there are feeling very hopeless. You know the evacuation process is going to end on August 31, the US couldn’t evacuate many of its alliances. For example, I’m a student of an American university in Afghanistan, and I was evacuated to the UK through my job. Most students aren’t evacuated yet. The Taliban have all the information they need through the Ministry of Higher Education. Some young people are threatened by unknown mobile calls, they are very hopeless and are afraid what will happen after August 31.
As long as there’s Taliban there, you won’t come back?
Of course. It is a selfish act to leave your country in the middle of the crisis, to leave everything behind just to save yourself. But if I stayed there, I wouldn’t be able to do anything, for my people, for my country. So it’s better to stay somewhere safe and work on myself. And if the Taliban are removed from Afghanistan, then I would be happy to go back and serve my country as a qualified person.
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