One of them is 12 years old, and the other is 10. Both have seen Taliban torture and killings with their own eyes. They have left Kabul far behind and are now in India. But these girls can’t sleep at night as they now get sudden panic attacks.
Mohammad Khan was a garment seller in Kabul before he fled and landed in Howrah, West Bengal. He lives with his two young daughters, Malala and Pastana, in a relative’s home here. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has left all of them shaken.
“They were asking for money every day. If we failed, they would beat us up,” said Khan. “Even back in 2010, I was attacked by them. We finally took help from a friend, got in touch with the Indian embassy and came here.”
Khan and his family now do not want to go back to Afghanistan. “I am really scared now as well. We are still unable to believe that we are alive,” he said. “I would want to stay in India and I request the Government of India.”
Khan said he always opposed the Taliban and he saw what they did to people who stood up to them. His daughters Malala and Pastana do not know Hindi or any other Indian languages, but he says all of them are getting immense help from locals in Howrah, near Kolkata.
It’s difficult to leave one’s own home, says Khan, but adds that it was a question of survival.
More than 50 people have come from Afghanistan to Kolkata and are staying in and around the city, say officials. And they are still in fear of what’s happening back home. They know things will not change right now, and even if they do, people like Mohammad Khan say they will never go back.
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