bismihi Ta’ala
assalam o alaikum …
i had spent the long weekend, among several things, reading ‘Sewing the Circles of Herat’, by Christina Lamb, Harper Collins.
it is a narrative that captures the authors voyage through Afghanistan. she covered the war, between the Russians and the Afghanis, and returned later after 9-11. one can read about the encounter with the tribal afghans, the young talibs (who later came to be known as the infamous Taliban)!
among several things covered, the book is divided between her personal exploits, and letters if communication with a young afghani girl, who knows english and communicates with her through a a liason, with a fictitious name: Marri.
in essence, i am writing my impressions, for Marri symbolized the epitome of heart breaks, struggles, resistance, despondency, hope, fear, loathing, love and importantly how to live. i am reminded of a song by Sade, where she sings for a
Somalian woman,
There is a woman in somalia
Scraping for pearls on the roadside
There’s a force stronger than nature
Keeps her will alive
That’s how she’s dying
She’s dying to survive
Don’t know what she’s made of
I would like to be that brave
She cries to the heaven above
There is a stone in my heart
She lives a life she didn’t choose
but Marri has a different story altogether. there is hope,
because the world paid attention to their suffering,
fortiously because of the tragedy that befell us on 9/11.
following the expulsion of the Russians, the afghans, by virtue of their tribal culture, fell into a power struggle. this was evident from the civil war, and what made it worse
was the involvement of the ISI, from Islamabad, who provided material and financial support to the taliban.
the Taliban, as we know it, were students, and following the change in fortunes after the parting of US, their lot fell to the madrassas, who provided food, shelter, and more importantly religious training. Christina does interview the Haqqani Madrassa, which was known to have given rise to the Taliban movement.
but let us not get carried away with the atrocities of the Taliban, and give credit where it is due. the Taliban did bring
peace to the war, poverty and faction striken which prevailed. there was law and order, but alas, it was followed out by a
literal and rigid interpretation of the law.
apart from the brunt that the woman fold had to bear, Christina focusses in her work on ‘Herat’, which was/is the cultural center of the different ethnic factions in the land of the Afghans. from the persian culture, to the poetry, to the historical artifacts, to the music, to the historical memories of the great conquerers: everything was ruined. the destruction of the Bamyamin Buddhas was just one episode.
this is where Marri comes to play. there is a dislike for the Taliban, for they are confided in the house, they can’t learn
and neither can they learn, for much of this was performed under-ground, and the punishment met out to those who were
caught was very severe.
women folk would teach other, while posing as gatherings where they would learn how to sew or write poetry, which would echo
their deep frustrations, aspirations and hopes. there was this first Eid which was celebrated, but the future was un-known to
them. having being deserted in the past, the fear was that would be deserted again. struggle to acheive the basic amenities of life, clean water, electricity did not bother these women as much as loosing their culture, their language. they had only known of war, even children were taught how to count from books, via illustrations
of ammunitions in their text books (the Washington Post, had done a story few months ago, where about $$ 50 Million, was poured to in preparing material for children which emphasized in jihad, killing of the infidels [sic]), so the Afghans never knew of peace.
what is striking in the book is the relative expansiveness of the Afghani spirit. the men would speak of flowers, the open valleys, tall mountains, the white snow, the open sky: reflective also of a very contemplative spirit.
it is a very moving journey. i was able to understand why the Afghanis have a very strong dis-like for their neighbours,
particularly the officers of ISI and Islamabad. Islamabad was running a proxy war, and the Taliban were simply instruments in this game, and the innocent Afghans suffered a lot.
i happened to have lived with many an Afghani immigrants in Norther Virginia, they were mostly Hazaris, with very strong
Asiatic features, despised not only for their ethnicity, but also their religion: they are shi’a. the Taliban left no stone un-turned in exterminating them and even those in Herat, who spoke persian.
as a result the only medium for protest left before these minorities was through poetry, inscribed in walls, and the
Taliban would punish people when caught, as they offered peaceful resistance. public hangings were mere common in the
Herat/Hazara areas, since the intent was drive fear, and they sure did it well.
i think that Sades song still resonates: the women and men would long to listen to the birds sing again, the rain which brought forth flowers, the mountains when peaked with snow, the smell of the pine trees, and the deafening silence of peace.
let us not forget these women folk, fghanis and Sudanese, and others i did not enumerate.
G-d bless Christina for the book.
regards, abu Kumayl
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