The Fall of Kabul and the Shattering of Dreams!

The Fall of Kabul and the Shattering of Dreams: A Generation’s Tale of Crisis and Migration!

Tahera Habibi

The war in Afghanistan is not a new or emerging phenomenon, especially for today’s generation that has been born and lived through this destructive reality.

War, wherever it occurs in the world, is grim and devastating, and its end does not necessarily mean the end of its adverse consequences. Wars inflict physical and psychological harm on the inhabitants of a land, which will not be easily treatable.

The people of Afghanistan have painful and terrifying memories of the wars in this land. For me, for us, and for our generation, nothing has been as painful as the fall of the Republic on August 15, 2021.

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The past 20 years in Afghanistan were years during which the country’s people, despite accepting fear, suicide attacks, explosions, poverty, and various other security and non-security threats, worked hard to guide the country towards self-sufficiency and prosperity.

Most of the country’s citizens strove to serve the nation and its people, even at the cost of their lives, standing firm amidst smoke and gunpowder. However, the fall of the country and its occupation by a group of terror and fear, who are unfamiliar with the basics of governance and politics, destroyed all the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the younger generation and the people of Afghanistan.

I remember the days when, despite the war in most provinces, I and my classmates attended lessons and worked on our future educational plans. Since the beginning of 1400, the flames of war had been raging in most northern and northeastern provinces of Afghanistan, and every day the number of provinces falling to the Taliban increased.

But we in Kabul, the heart of Afghanistan, worked and dreamed with great enthusiasm for achieving civilization, the country’s development, and self-sufficiency.

News of the fall of the northern and western provinces was coming one after another, yet we continued to attend the university with our usual energy and enthusiasm. Each day brought more news of war and the fall of provinces, but we encouraged each other, saying that even if all provinces fell, the Taliban would not be able to capture Kabul.

And finally, August 14 arrived, and rumors were heard that the Taliban would reach Kabul today or tomorrow. But we dismissed it as a rumor and didn’t believe it. But the city had a strange aura; it seemed like a city of ghosts.

The bustling Kabul, with its lively streets and the constant sound of music from cafes and restaurants, was nowhere to be found. It was as if the city had been dusted with the scent of death, and its citizens were mourning. Kabul had lost its spirit and soul in a matter of hours. Kabul resembled a girl caught in an illicit affair, her face pale and her heart nearly frozen with fear.

Everywhere you looked, people were disoriented and fleeing. Some walked briskly along the roads, all fleeing towards their homes. The city’s condition was desperate and alarming. We watched the setting sun, and our dreams, goals, and aspirations were shattered, and we cried.

Kabul, the heart of Afghanistan, fell; not only Kabul but a nation, a system, a country, and worst of all, the result of the efforts of a large geographical population that had toiled for 20 years for its prosperity. The result of work by over 35 million people, each of whom had suffered and worked for this land, had fallen. The war did not happen, but the spirits of millions of people died with the fall of Kabul.

We will never forget; one night we went to sleep, and by morning, we had become refugees in our own homeland. We will never forget how a mother lost all her children overnight. After the fall, the city remained a silent graveyard; people did not even find peace in their own homes.

In the first action after the fall of the Republic, the Taliban deprived the country’s women of all fundamental rights, most visibly the right to work and education. All government and private office doors and universities were closed to women, and this was declared forbidden by the Taliban Emirate until further notice.

Here, Kabul and I fell together. Kabul fell from a republic into the hands of the emirate, but I (as a woman) fell from the seventh sky of dreams, goals, and educational plans into the depths of uncertainty and aimlessness. Of course, I was not alone in this fall; millions of people like me were also included.

News of house-to-house searches reached us. We had no weapons or items related to the old regime, but the fact that they were searching for something was itself a terrifying thought, and facing their presence was anxiety-inducing.

Days passed in fear in the corner of the room, seeing images of the empty city, lifeless streets, and people fleeing towards the airport. The painful image of those who fell from the plane is still fresh; my soul still aches. At night, we counted the flights evacuating the people of Afghanistan. Every night that the number of flights increased, the wounds of our hearts deepened, and I didn’t know whether to despair for all those who became stateless or to be anxious about my own and others’ uncertain future.

Girls’ schools and universities remained closed, women were banned from work, and targeted killings, torture, and arbitrary detentions, particularly of women who worked outside the home, began. Each day was spent waiting for an incident.

In these three years, the Taliban committed atrocities against the Afghan people that had never been experienced in history.

From unemployment, poverty, forced marriages, suicides, violence, banning women from recreational places, arrests and captivity of women under the pretext of improper hijab and female employees and protesters, to serial and targeted killings, human rights violations, economic crisis, and uncertainty, closing the doors of universities and schools for girls beyond sixth grade were the most difficult and ominous phenomena that the Taliban imposed on the people during these three years.

Many lost their lives, and some sold their household items and even their children out of hunger, while the Taliban, in the presence of the watching international community, has held the lives of people hostage.

Living under threats, fear, and Taliban oppression has become suffocating for the people of Afghanistan, especially for women and girls. Alongside unemployment, lack of plans, and harsh economic conditions, living in Afghanistan, despite all my attachment to this land, has become difficult.

Therefore, to survive, I decided to leave my homeland and seek refuge (migration). I left behind all the sweet and bitter memories, my past, and my peace of mind in Kabul and chose the path of migration. In reality, I became a stateless person, and the Taliban have left me and my family indebted. Meanwhile, the Taliban celebrate the third anniversary of their rule.

It is the anniversary of the death of a nation, the death of a geography, the death of 20 years of efforts and struggles to achieve the goals and ideals of more than 35 million people.

14-08-2024

TAHERA HABIBI is an activist, writer from Afghanistan

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