A 25-year-old female government employee from Daykundi, one of the forty-four provinces of Afghanistan, has been hiding in her friend’s house in Kabul for the past seven days.
As the Talibani militants are searching for people who worked for the Afghan government, she fears for her life.
She spoke to Outlook and sent an audio message for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which she said that she has sent an E-Rakhi to Modi and pleaded to help all the women of Afghanistan whose life and dignity are in danger.
Below is the transcript of her audio message -
“Dear Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji
I want to greet you on Rakhi. It is a festival celebrated in India. Sisters tie Rakhi on their brother's wrists and brothers promise to save them in times of need.
On the behalf of all the women in Afghanistan, I am sending you an E-Rakhi. I am hiding in Kabul. I am a government employee and I know my fate.
If I fall into the hands of Talibani militants, they will outrage my modesty and kill me. This is what they are doing with women here in Kabul. Especially, those who are in government services.
I plead with folded hands that please provide us visa to come to India. Please save our dignity and lives. Many women are ready to commit suicide before they will fall into the hands of Talibani militants.
We are more vulnerable than men. Please provide visas to all women whose lives are at risk. We promise you to come back to your own country once the situation improves.
We will remain obliged till we are alive. You are a great leader. Please hear the cry of a sister who will meet a cruel end if you don’t help.
Please sir, please sir…I am desperately waiting for your response…”
When the Taliban were about to capture Daykundi, she, along with 18 people including her 18-year-old sister, fled to Bamyan in a vehicle which couldn’t accommodate more than 8 persons.
They reached Bamyan at night and slept in the vehicle or on the roadside. After a few hours of rest, they came to know that the Taliban were heading for Bamyan so they all left for Kabul.
“When I reached Kabul hoping that the city would be safe from the Taliban, I was shocked to know they had reached the outskirts of the city on the day after we arrived here,” she told outlook on a WhatsApp call.
She added, “I am an office assistant in one of the government ministries in Daykundi. The militants are arresting government employees and killing them. They are very cruel to women. I watched on a foreign news channel here that a 16-year-old girl was raped and murdered by the Talibani militants.”
She said that all sorts of news are coming about the atrocities on women and she is very sacred.
She said that she is hiding in a basement. There are couple of women in the house and except her and her daughter all are locals of Kabul.
“At the moment militants are particularly looking for army personnel, police officers and government employees. They didn’t say anything to other women in the house. What if they ask about my identity? That’s why most of the time I stay underground,” She said.
They have already searched her house twice but she could hide from them.
According to her, women are not going out to buy anything and they are eating only boiled rice for almost a week. She doesn’t have money also.
“I am sending an audio message to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji through you on Rakhi. I want to plead with him to save our lives. If the PM gives us shelter in India till the time the crisis gets over, we will be highly obliged. We will come back to our country after that,” She said.
