Those that have not witnessed Taliban torture or have only come across it in movies or books, should head to Delhi’s Bhogal area. In a small rented accommodation is the lonely existence of a middle-aged woman. Yet, Fariba thinks this life is happy and peaceful.
Fariba is the wife of a Taliban fighter. Rather, the ex-wife of a Taliban fighter. She was just about 14 years old when she was married off. Then when she had two daughters, the father sold off both his offspring. Having shouldered the memories of Taliban torture for the last 26 years, Fariba is still trying very hard to rebuild her life. Her entire body is testimony to the thousands of wounds that she had suffered during her married life. It took many years of medical treatment after her escape to India for her to recover.
In a small corner of the room, hidden between the pages of a book is an old photo. A photo that shows two fingers that had been lacerated and then sewn back together. The photo was taken by her doctors after they had stitched the fingers. Fariba has kept the photo to remind her of the atrocities committed by the Taliban. Such wounds are all over her body.
In the Lajpat Nagar area of Delhi, Fariba has gained some recognition as a gym trainer.
She is seething at the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan as she says: “How does it matter where the bullet hits? Talibans are gunpowder keg. Whoever has ever encountered them, recognises them for who they are. There is nothing called a good Taliban. I could never accept the cruel, oppressive regime and can never do so in future either.”
As she voiced her resolve, her eyes welled up. Looking up at the sky Fariba says: “No matter how much they talk about change, there is not an iota of truth in it. They are trying to fool the world. I have stayed among them and faced their atrocities. My husband and in-laws inflicted untold miseries on me. They sold my babies. It was all the training and brainwashing of the Taliban that made them do it.”
Fariba was born in penury. That was why at 14 years, she was married off. In Afghanistan, women do not have the independence to choose who they marry. She became the wife of a man who was 20 years older. And from the very next day the cruelty started. Fariba says after a few years of marriage she gave birth to two daughters in quick succession. In a few days her husband sold off their eldest child. Fariba begged with her husband and in-laws to save her child but everything was in vain. Neither her husband nor her in-laws relented. Fariba was broken by the sale of her own daughter.
That was not the end, though. The next phase was worse. Fariba recalls: “My husband had started looking for a customer for my younger daughter too. She tried to kill herself. The next morning my husband left with my daughter. I have not seen her or heard from her ever since. My husband was a Taliban fighter, he did what they asked him to do. It is possible that he had left my younger daughter in the den of the Taliban.”
She is happy to have found refuge in India. Her tears have dried up, her jawline has hardened. Sitting in India she is hearing stories about the hell that Afghanistan is quickly becoming. She says: “There can be no country like India in the world. People of all religions, castes and nations live here in peace. Had I not come here, I would never have known that this is possible.”
Her appeal to the Indian authorities is that Afghans in India should not lose their refugee status. They should be able to continue to live here in peace. So that another Fariba is never born.
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