E-Paper
Taliban’s advance in Afghanistan giving nightmares to PhD students in Ludhiana’s PAU
A common belief all Afghan students hold is that the Taliban is just a front for Pakistan and China in these countries’ bid to plunder their mineral-rich homeland of Afghanistan
With the Taliban close to reaching Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, the future of that country is looking uncertain. The political turmoil in their home country is also worrying 11 Afghan students, who had enroled in Phd or MSc programmes in Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in 2019.
These scholars, who were seen as future policymakers in Afghanistan, now fear instant death at the hands of the Talibani militia, if they manage to return to their homeland. A common belief all of them hold is that the Taliban is just a front for Pakistan and China in these countries’ bid to plunder their mineral-rich homeland of Afghanistan.
Noorali Noori, 32, from Parwan province is pursuing PhD in agronomy; he says his family members back home are in hiding. Noori, who lost his father due to Covid-19 in July, says, “The Taliban are pressuring one my relatives to hand over his three teenage daughters or else they will kill all the members in the family.”
He added, “If Taliban finds out that I have studied in India, I will be killed along with my children,” said Noori, whose two-year-old younger daughter is suffering from Rett syndrome (a kind of muscular dystrophy among girls). He gets a stipend of ₹18,000 per month.
Ahmad Mubasher, 30, of Baghlan province, which is now under Taliban control, says, “My family members are in hiding. I have been disturbed since the current developments began. Taliban want to paralyse the education system of Afghanistan so that no one opposes them. They want to plunder the natural resources of my country.”
“Pakistan, who is supporting Taliban must learn that radical and terrorist organisations they are promoting will one day burn down their country,” said Mubasher, who is pursuing PhD in extension education.
Habibullah Habibi from Kabul, a third-year PhD in plant breeding said they denounce the kind of Islam being propagated by Taliban.
“My family has also had to flee and take shelter with relatives. Islam does not teach suppression of women, beating and killing them in public, picking up girls from houses and imposing dress codes,” he added.
“Fortunately my wife and four children are with me, but I am worried about my remaining family members. What will happen to them? I’m concerned about the girls in our family as they are the target of Taliban,” said Habibi.
