Author: Narendra Kaushik
Publication: Mid Day
Date: October 9, 2001
Pahle Pakistan ko maaro. Sabse bada
terrorist woh hai." This refrain by an Afghan refugee reflects the sentiments
of most of his kindred who are in Delhi.
When Mid Day asked them how they
felt about the US-led attacks on Afghanistan, they were united in agreeing
that Pakistan, "mother of terrorism" should have been attacked first. They
said the Taliban was nothing but a creation of the Inter-Services Intelligence.
Sitting behind the office of United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) near Safdarjung airport,
Mohamad Wali, Mohamad Yasin, Mohamad Akbar, Aarif Khan and Mohamad Naem
refugees in Delhi for several years, gave vent to their feelings against
Pakistan.
"Pakistan lit the fire in my country.
Inshallah, it itself will burn now," said Mohamad Akbar, as he prepared
to offer namaaz in the triangular space behind the UNHCR office.
Wali, who came to India in 1993,
blamed Afghanistan's suffering on Pakistan. "The same Pakistan that criticises
Taliban during the day, sells guns to them at night," he said.
No good words were reserved for
the US either. "Pakistan's baap is America. America raised Taliban through
Pakistan seven years back. It gave Stinger missiles to them. It gave ammunition
to bin Laden," said Naem.
Yasin, an electronics engineer from
Kabul University, lamented the destruction of basic amenities in Afghanistan.
"The Taliban has destroyed everything. There is a ban on education. There
is no agriculture, water or health centres," he said.
They regretted the destruction of
their country because of an Arab, Osama bin Laden.
According to Sandeep Goyal of the
Foreigners Regional Registration Office, there are 7,000 Afghan refugees
in Delhi. "Most came here in the early 1990s after war made it difficult
to survive in Afghanistan. About half of these refugees are of Indian origin
while the other half are from Afghan tribes like Pakhtoons, Uzbeks and
Tajiks."
Most of the refugees are impoverished.
They either work in private offices or spend their days behind the UNHCR
office in the hope of some financial assistance. Wali said that before
1996, the UN office paid them Rs 1,400 per month. It was stopped then.
Wali, who worked for 22 years in
a government hospital in Afghanistan, is unemployed in Delhi. Yasin repairs
TVs and radios in his home at Tilak Nagar, west Delhi.
