Teacher recalls ‘helpful’ Talibanis; Embassy guard the tormentors

A teacher employed in a school in Kabul, from West Bengal’s Nimta, had a different experience with the Taliban. At a time when reports said Taliban burnt women to death, prevented woman TV anchors from working and kidnapped 20 children, Tamal Bhattacharya, evacuated on Sunday, said the Taliban treated him and other Indians as guests.

“We were in school when some people asked us to return to our residence. On our way back, we were surrounded by Taliban. We thought our days were numbered. But things were a little different. They treated us as their guests. They gave food to us, provided water and checked our documents and treated us with respect. However, we did not feel secure in their presence since we knew about what the Taliban did in the 1990s. But they did not harm us. They provided food, medicines and appeared to be friendly. Without their help, we would not have managed to leave Afghanistan,” Bhattacharya said.

Another Afghan returnee, Kishan Gurung from Kurseong, was not so lucky. He had a harrowing experience in Kabul. He was stuck outside Kabul airport for many days before reaching Delhi on Sunday. “I went on duty on August 15 to the Italian embassy when we received a call that Taliban was entering Kabul. It was the scariest time of our lives. The Italian embassy was emptied, but we were told not to leave the place as we were in charge of security. We moved towards the Danish embassy,” Gurung, who worked as guard, said.


“Taliban captured us and took us to a hotel. The nozzle of their guns was near my chest. I was scared. After a day, we were rescued by the British army who took us to a different hotel. On August 20, we tried to go to the airport but the British army in the hotel prevented us. We could hear gun fights the whole night and we slept inside garbage bags,” Gurung said.