E-Paper
Pakistan combining with Taliban in terms of terrorism major threat to India: Narendra Jadhav, economist
My major worry is what happens to all the women and young girls, there is a big question. The younger generation has so many aspirations in Afghanistan and how will they go forward with their careers, he says
As the Taliban takes control of Afghanistan, HT spoke Narendra Jadhav, economist and member of the Rajya Sabha, who was posted in Kabul in 2006 as chief economic counsellor to the Da Afghanistan Bank (central bank), in Kabul. He has since also been the vice-chancellor of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), just after he returned from his Afghan assignment. Excerpts.
What is your reaction to the current happenings and situation in Afghanistan?
This is the most unfortunate thing to happen and it is a black day not only for Afghanistan, but I would say for humanity. What is happening out there is extremely saddening and the future looks very scary. My major worry is what happens to all the women and young girls, there is a big question. The younger generation has so many aspirations in Afghanistan and how will they go forward with their careers.
There is a strong bond between India and Afghanistan and every year, thousands of Afghan students come to India for education. How will that be affected now?
When I was the vice-chancellor of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had announced a scheme under which 1,000 Afghan students were invited to India and the Indian government financed them for a four-year course in whichever university they wanted. Since then, the number of students coming to India for various studies has gone up and it will definitely be affected now. All these engagements and schemes will come to a halt after the Taliban. Taliban do not believe in the kind of education we have and I really don’t know what would happen to Afghan students studying in India. I think the Indian government should positively respond to students’ issues, mainly about their visa extensions. Sending them back on technical reasons would be very unfortunate.
What was your experience working in Kabul 2006?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave me permission to go to Afghanistan as the country was coming out of 23 years of devastation of war. In every family there was at least one death in the war, so the backbone of the country was broken. We were there to restore democracy and many Afghans who had gone abroad were returning to build their nation. People were in a lot of agony and Americans were running the country. America had given a contract to the USAID organisation that was running the entire show, so they appointed me as chief economic counsellor for the Government of Da Afghanistan Bank in Kabul.
So there was a team of Americans, Afghans and myself working together. I was in charge of the team to rebuild the economy. For few months I was staying inside a secured walled compound as there were all kinds of security issues. Every day some explosion would take place. I decided their exchange rates on day-to-day basis, interest rates and I trained lot of Afghan people on monetary policies. There was a huge vacuum of trained people and I was there to teach them.
Your memories of Afghan culture, the people and their social life…
Going out was ruled out for us being a security threat. To move from one place to another when necessary they would take us in armed vehicles with high security. Initially I was given Z plus security and an American soldier was my bodyguard, it made me a direct target. Later on, a local Afghan soldier was my bodyguard.
The Afghans are a beautiful people with a great culture and there are lot of similarities with our culture. When I was coming back to India for a short period one of my servants requested me to bring back a CD of ‘Kyunki Sans bhi Kabhi Bahu thi’ serial. Afghan people are fond of Indian cinema and serials and they just love our Bollywood industry and Indian culture.
What do you look see happening to Afghanistan now that the Taliban has taken control?
It is a false state government now and we don’t know… a terrorist university or centre may come up there. Talibans are known for that. Pakistan along with Taliban combining in terms of terrorism will be a major threat to India and we need to watch out!
