The third coming

Rizwan hails from an Afghan village bordering Pakistan where, he explains, everyone in the village is the Taliban.

Effortlessly, acrobatic swallows swoop and glide through wheelbarrow-pushing vendors attempting to earn a living on the streets of central Kabul. Their cries of kishmish and krut — the rock-hard balls of sundried yoghurt made by Kuchi nomads during times of plenty — echo from building to building on the almost-deserted Flower Street, from the otherwise silent shopfronts of carpet and fake antique stores lining Chicken Street and in voluble competition with the traffic, jostling for position, on Shara-e-Nau where shopkeepers are wearily resigned to lack of trade.

“Everyone is worried” says Rizwan, a cook who — in an attempt at making ends meet — doubles as a maintenance man in one of the many, poorly-constructed, apartment blocks that have sprung up around the city in recent years. “They worry about what will happen in 2014, they worry about how to earn enough to survive and they worry about the arrival of the Taliban which is stupid. The Taliban are already here. They never went away.”

Rizwan, his acne-scarred face twisted in disgust, hails from a small village in the Kunar province bordering Pakistan where, he explains, everyone in the village is the Taliban.

“In the daytime, if they have jobs, they work. In the night-time, they plan how to kill Americans and sometimes, they do. The Taliban are everywhere in Afghanistan now. They become more powerful every day and no one can stop them. If America was serious about killing the Taliban, they would have done this when the Taliban were few but they did not and now, the Taliban are many. Why did America not kill the Taliban when they could? The answer to this is simple: America, supported by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, made the Mujahideen and then, when the Mujahideen became too strong, America, again with help from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, made the Taliban to fight the Mujahideen. So, you see, America — with these two other countries — made number one and then number two and now, when the Taliban become too strong, they will make number three. I and the poor people of Afghanistan, those who continually suffer and are killed in wars, are watching and waiting to see who this number three will be.”

In his late 20s, Rizwan, like countless other Afghans, is of the opinion that his country is being used as a battlefield by countries including America, Britain, Russia and China that, he insists, do not want war on their own turf — viewing the people of Afghanistan and the country itself as expendable. “These countries only care for themselves”, he continues. “It is the same with rich Afghans who have made so much money out of wars. Even they do not care about their people. When the situation here deteriorates some more, rich Afghans will run away again and give thanks to God for saving them and their families while, as always, the poor people suffer and are killed.”

Undeniably bitter, Rizwan — who like so many others here trusts nothing and no one — sums up his nation’s angst with “Afghanistan is just a war place for others. The situation is hopeless. Maybe my country is finished now. There is nothing the people can do except wait — in silence if they want to survive — and see who and what is this number three.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2013.