Afghanistan A Different Take

 Afghanistan is the elephant in the room, a topic for discussions on the idiot box, in the drawing rooms, in coffee houses, print media and of course our think tanks. Indians have a rather deep and historic as well as mythological connect with Afghanistan and Afghans. Kandahar in fact was a major princely state in Mahabharat, Gandhari the queen of Dhritrashtra was from Kandahar. Shakuni the evil uncle of Duryodhan whose scheming with the dice in a way led to the epic battle. We  are also nostalgic about that Afghanistan which predated partition when Indian empires stretched upto the Hindukush which unfortunately gave way to onslaught of Islam. Historically right from the time of Kanishk who ruled in the first century over large tract of North India, with his capital at Peshawar. In literature too we Indians have an  emotional connect;, the image of Afghan is linked to the Kabuliwallah story of Gurudev RavindraNath Tagore or the Hindi medium types would instantly recall Heengwalla by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, poetess who is known more for her immortal "Khoob ladi mardani woh to Jhansi Wali Rani Thi". As readers would recall Kabuliwallah was very friendly with a small girl child who reminded her of her daughter back home. The mother of the child was not favourably inclined towards the Kabuliwallah but the father approved of this chit chat. Till one day when the Kabuliwallah was jailed for a murder. The story was also immortalised by Balraj Sahni playing the Kabuliwallah singing "Ae mere pyare watan " from the precincts of the jail suffering the pangs of separation from his beloved motherland.

In Khuda Gawah an Amitabh starrer Bollywood film, who is a Pathan who stays true to his word.

Traditionally Afghans in India came for trade,  their wares included exotic dry fruits almonds, pistachios, chilgoze or Heeng (asafoetida), they were also money lenders who would extract the repayment of the loans without any scruples. Heengwalla was a story of the deeply polarised partition time, when communal riots were a common phenomena. The protagonist would be roaming the streets of the town selling Heeng, the kids were intrigued by his turban bearded persona and were deeply suspicious, however the mother would patronise him and buy Heeng from him. On his part Khan considered the mother as a lucky customer,  as she always brought good luck, hence sought a bohni (the first sale of the Day) from her  When the kids go out for a fair with the servant and get separated in the stampede, it is the Heengwalla who brings them home safely. 

Alas that Afghanistan is long buried and blown to smithereens along with the Bamiyan Budhhas. The Taliban have made a remarkable comeback albeit with the tacit support of our nemesis Pak. The typical image of an Afghan today is that of the bearded turbaned Kalashnikov wielding brutes who belong to an era long gone by, professing their allegiance to the Sharia only with practically no rights for women. They are the antithesis of modern day liberal democratic value systems. While the beard and the turban have remained the jihadi mindset which has emerged as their raison d'être is a cause for global concern.