Badakhshan Taliban! Choose between freedom and the life of a donkey. Either stand with your own people and remain a free man, or stand with the army of the tribal khan — and be a donkey!
Author: Mohebullah Ahmadi, anti-Taliban commander
Dear people of Badakhshan! Accept the greetings of your brother who is on the front line, and sincerely listen to several points that he wishes to convey to you responsibly.
First point:
It is as clear as daylight to all of us that, under the pretext of representing the interests of a particular ethnic group, the language, culture, geography, and resources of Afghanistan — especially those of Badakhshan — are being trampled upon. A Badakhshan woman is subjected to a body search before our very eyes and is subsequently shot dead. The dignity and honor of Badakhshan’s elders and community leaders are disregarded. At the head of the local administration of Badakhshan are people who do not understand the language of the people, while the people do not understand their language.
They come to Badakhshan and publicly call us “Kulabis.” We have repeatedly heard them say that they come to Badakhshan to take second, third, and fourth wives. They refrain from no form of bullying, oppression, or mistreatment. They look upon Badakhshan and everything that belongs to it as booty.
Second point:
No matter how much you demonstrate your loyalty and submission, they do not trust you. They do not regard you as like-minded people or as those who share their views. You have no place in any of the country’s vital decision-making processes.
Within their system, you occupy a decorative and symbolic position. Even the symbolic post you have been given has been granted to you for certain considerations and temporary necessity. As soon as that necessity disappears, you will either be pushed aside or eliminated. In other words, you are a disposable resource.
Therefore, you are unreliable soldiers of this ethnic totalitarian system — and even then, only out of necessity, not meaningful partners in this disorderly regime.
Third point:
I know that over these five years you have come to understand the ethnic nature of the so-called Islamic Emirate and no longer believe in the Islamic character of this system. If you merely pretend to believe, I am ready to provide hundreds of proofs from the sacred Islamic texts demonstrating that this system has nothing to do with Islamic teachings.
The central piece on the chessboard of Islam is “justice,” yet they have gunned down justice and seized 97 percent of the country’s power and resources.
The mission of the great Prophet of Islam can be summed up in one sentence: “I was sent to perfect noble character and moral virtues.” However, these people adhere to none of the principles of morality and are completely alien to ethical conduct. Apart from the tribal ethics and culture of the Stone Age, they recognize no other moral principles.
They do not even observe the rules of warfare that our beloved Prophet followed in his struggles against Jews, Christians, and polytheists — they refuse to observe them even toward ordinary people and Muslims of Badakhshan.
They mutilate bodies in violation of all Islamic and human norms and show disrespect for the God-given dignity of human beings. God has granted human beings honor and dignity, yet they trample upon this divine dignity.
God has said: “Do not commit injustice and do not accept injustice,” yet they commit oppression and injustice, while you accept this oppression against your own people. Therefore, both of you are acting contrary to God’s command.
Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab, despite his greatness, authority, and exalted position, would walk through the streets of Medina at night and inquire about the condition of the people. But the man whom you call the “Commander of the Faithful”, like a highway robber, hides himself from the people, and they do not even know whether he exists; and if he does exist, what kind of person he is, who he is, or what he represents.
The Holy Qur’an begins with the word “Iqra” — “Read!” God has said: “Those who know and those who do not know are not equal.” The great Prophet of Islam said: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim, male and female.” Yet this self-proclaimed and hidden ruler, contrary to the words of God and the Prophet, has closed the doors of schools and universities to the girls of our country.
The Islamic texts themselves contain thousands of proofs that this emirate has nothing to do with Islamic teachings and is entirely tribal, degenerate, and reactionary in character.
Fourth point:
It is true that you have received positions, opportunities, and material benefits. But if you still possess even a drop of conscience, a little faith, and at least some sense of shame, dignity, and courage, and if you fear the harsh and bitter judgment of history, do not make yourselves even more hated by society and the people. And if you do not stand with us, then at least do not become a Peshmerga of the tribal army of ignorance and madness. Let them come themselves and face us directly.
Despite understanding all of this, when you stand alongside the army of ethnic dictatorship, you betray your people and your homeland, and you will be held responsible for every drop of the blood of Badakhshan’s young people shed on both sides of the confrontation.
If the privileges and handouts have become more important to you than conscience, faith, and courage, and you fear hunger, let me remind you: just the day before yesterday, you were mosque imams. The people fed you, and you did not die of hunger. Yesterday, too, you lived as a burden on the oppressed residents of Badakhshan’s villages — and you did not die of hunger. Today, if positions and material benefits do not prevail over your conscience and you abandon your submission, you will not die of hunger either.
We consider ourselves responsible before every proud and honorable person of Badakhshan, before thousands of girls deprived of the opportunity to attend school and university, and before the blood of that lionhearted woman from Yaftal, unjustly shed by ethnic criminals. Seeing all this oppression, injustice, totalitarianism, ignorance, and bullying, we have consciously stood up, putting our own lives at stake, so that we will not be ashamed before history, our own conscience, and future generations, and so that we may fulfill our duty.
We also ask the Badakhshan Taliban not to allow these injustices to be inflicted upon the proud and freedom-loving people of Badakhshan, and not to become protectors and soldiers of the tribe.
Today, my soldiers and I consciously and courageously stand against a mono-ethnic, despotic, oppressive, reactionary, and hypocritical government that commits every wrongful act in the name of religion. Such resistance under these circumstances and against such a government recalls the uprising of the Imam of the Martyrs, Sayyidina Hussein (may Allah be pleased with him), who, despite his limited resources and the absence of broad popular support, consciously stood against religious tyranny and, in the words of Dr. Ali Shariati: “If he did not defeat the enemy, he humiliated the enemy with his own blood.”
And finally:
Badakhshan Taliban! Choose between hurriyat — freedom and kharriyat — the life of a donkey. Either stand with your people and remain a free man, or stand with the army of the tribal khan — and remain a donkey!
“Our duty is only to deliver the message.”
