Kabir Khan: I don’t think the Taliban will allow artistes to survive in Afghanistan now – Exclusive! – Times of India

‘It’s hard to imagine the kind of fear they must be feeling’

I have worked there for years on documentaries and films and I have many friends in Afghanistan. Some have relocated over the years, but others are still there. They’ve reached out to us in desperate pleas saying, ‘Can you help us?’. I have been feeling heartbroken ever since they have reached out to me, because I have not been able to do anything from here. The Indian Embassy over there in Kabul has shut down. Even though I know some people in the ministry of External Affairs, no one can do anything, because the embassy is shut, the airspace is shut, it’s becoming a desperate situation and we are just sitting and watching the news and trying to imagine what they must be going through. It’s hard to imagine the kind of fear they must be feeling. These are people who are in the film industry, they are actors, and they are going to be targeted by the Taliban. The last time the Taliban was in power, the films were banned, photography was banned. After the Taliban left, Afghan citizens were making a lot of films. One of my dearest friends Siddique Barmaar made this beautiful film called ‘Osama’, which was even nominated for the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category. They would come to India and meet us and their cinema was back on track. They used to talk about collaborating with us, taking some technology from here. But now, with the Taliban coming back, I have no idea what is going to happen to the film industry. I don’t think they will be allowed to survive.

‘Those people helped us survive Taliban’s death threats. They’re asking for help now and I am helpless’

During my visit to Afghanistan in 1996, before the Taliban had come to power, I was shooting the documentary and every day the Taliban used to shell the city, rockets would be fired and they would land all over the place. It was dangerous and at that point we left Kabul and came back. Two months later, the Taliban had taken over Kabul. We couldn’t go back for five years.

It was only post 9/11 that we went back and made documentaries there on what life in Afghanistan was during the Taliban years. We made a film on environmental destruction caused by 25 years of war. Thanks to these experiences, we made a lot of friends there.

We had a good network and these are the same people who helped me set up ‘Kabul Express’. Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) had told me that it is very difficult to produce a film in Afghanistan. He asked, ‘Do you know people?’ and as it turned out, these people completely supported me and helped me set up my first film.

And when we got death threats from the Taliban during the filming those people helped us again, gave us security, including the government and the locals. Because of that, I was able to finish my film over there and these are the same people who are asking for help today and I am helpless.

‘Afghanistan under Taliban was almost like a lab for oppression of women’

The women must be particularly scared because during the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001 they had targeted women. They had stopped them from working, this was the country which was always at war and there were widows who were not allowed to leave home or work. They had become beggars but they were not even allowed to beg. They would be beaten up if they came out on the streets, girls were stopped from getting education. It was almost like a lab for oppression of women. They were not allowed to leave home unless accompanied by a father, brother or husband. There are women I know who suffered from skin diseases because for five they never had sun on their skin.

They would blacken the windows saying that men should not be able to see the women. If a woman’s shoes made noise while walking, she would be caned saying, ‘Why are you attracting attention to yourself?’

All the little girls were stopped from getting education and it took 20 years for girls to go back to school. I heard 9 million of them are studying now. I don’t know what future they’re going to face. I watch the interviews on the network and I can understand the fear they have because they have no idea what lies in the future.

Some of the statements from the Taliban say that they are not going to do any revenge killing. Everybody is going to be given automatic amnesty, hoping against hope that they will live up to what they say.