In the wake of the Taliban sweeping into Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabuliwalas (people of Kabul) in Kolkata are worried, having not been able to contact their family members back home. Known as Kabuliwalas, Afghans in Kolkata usually sell wares from their country, mostly dry fruits, rugs, or perfume, or lend money.
Moneylender Omar Masood, who has lived in the city for the past several decades, says that he hasn’t been able to connect with his family and friends in Kunduz over the past two weeks. ‘I last spoke to my younger brother and family in July. Since May, I have been urging them to leave Afghanistan and move to either India or another country… Now I have no idea where they are,’ Masood said. After the Afghan government collapsed and president Ashraf Ghani fled from Kabul like many of his fellow citizens, Taliban fighters, who were removed from power by US-led forces in 2001, have returned, retaking control of key cities including Kabul on Sunday. In the conflict, thousands of people have died and millions of people have been displaced.
Mohammad Khan (49), who returned to Kolkata from Kabul last year, said the situation in his country had been deteriorating for some time. ‘Having left Afghanistan for the first time in the mid-1990s after the Taliban took control, I returned in 2017 after having decided to reopen my business there. But once the US began withdrawing its troops, the situation got worse. My family and I decided to move to Kolkata’, he explained.
His extended family on the outskirts of Kabul had not replied to his phone calls, which caused him sleepless nights. ‘The Taliban killed many members of my family in the 90s, as we were opposed to their regime. I don’t know what fate awaits my family there,’ he lamented. Many Afghans living in the city expressed hope that the Indian government would offer home to refugees fleeing the war- torn country ‘We would like to request the Indian authorities to look after the Afghan refugees since they have nowhere to go,’ said 60-year-old Omar Farooqi.
In addition, Farroqi stated that one of his relatives studying in Pune has decided to apply for an extension of his student visa since he does not wish to return to the Taliban-controlled country. Yasmin Nigar Khan, a leader of an association for Pashtuns living in India, echoed him and appealed to the Narendra Modi government to assist Afghanistan in dealing with the crisis to restore normalcy.
Afghanistan’s citizens support neither terrorism nor the Taliban. India should help Afghanistan get back to normal. Afghanistan and India have a long history together. India and other world powers must help the people of this country during this difficult time. PTI quoted Khan, the general secretary of All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind, as saying it would be a grave injustice if Afghans were left to fend for themselves. Since the late 19th century, Kabuliwalas have been visiting Bengal for door-to-door sales of merchandise, and the profits they earn go largely into the money-lending business.
One of Rabindranath Tagore’s iconic works, written in 1892, immortalized the Kabuliwalas in a tale of friendship and sacrifice. After independence in 1947, when formal trade between the two countries began, the Kabuliwalas’ market for dry fruits started to shrink and most switched to the business of money lending. Many of them had even obtained a license for the business.
According to some Afghan residents of the city, microfinance companies and easy banking have made it difficult for Kabuliwalas to stay in business. As a result of the dismal state of affairs, the number of Afghans in the city has fallen from 10,000 in 2001 to just over 1,000 today. After its first parliamentary elections in 2005, many of them returned to Afghanistan.
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Around 15-20 Afghan kothis or tenements are left in the city where Pathans live with their families and friends. Mullah Khan, who has lived in Kolkata for the last four decades, lamented that, given the circumstances, he never was able to spend his retired life in Kandahar, where he was born. The next year, Khan had continued his dry fruit business in Kolkata. Later, he entered the money-lending business. Although Khan’s relatives were killed by the Taliban in 1999, he had planned to return home by next year.
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