The Taliban are hostile even to Masoud’s grave — yet they follow his path.
By Ahmad Hanayesh, journalist (Afghanistan)
One day, near the sixteenth of September this year, a few of our fellow Afghan migrants gathered together to talk about the situation in our homeland and the conditions of migration.
Among them was a former colonel, an experienced man who had worked in various security institutions, a Pashtun of the Ghilzai tribe. For reasons of discretion, I will not mention his name. With particular delicacy and precision, he recounted an incident he had personally witnessed — events from the year 1380 (2001) — as if he had brought the very air of that two-decades-old scene here, to Germany.
Here is how he told his story:
“In September 1380 (2001), I had a friend named Daryakhan Kharoti, a money changer at the market of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province.
We were business partners — I had invested part of my capital (Afghan currency) in his exchange shop to earn some profit.
One day, as we were sitting in his shop calculating income and expenses, we saw three Datsun vehicles and another expensive but rather battered car pull up outside. Armed guards in Taliban clothing entered the shop — they were the bodyguards of Mullah Shah Mohammad Akhund.
At that time, Mullah Shah Mohammad simultaneously served as the head of two districts — Deh Yak and Deh Haji — in Ghazni province. He was considered one of Mullah Omar’s close and trusted men, enjoying significant authority, wealth, and privileges.
He was about forty years old and missing the index finger of his right hand. He was a Ghilzai Pashtun from the Maqur district of Ghazni.
Mullah Sahib entered the shop, greeted us briefly, and asked the shopkeeper to return part of the money he had deposited for their joint business.
While gathering the money to hand over to Mullah Shah Mohammad, the shopkeeper, wishing to please him, began talking about the situation in the country and said:
‘Today I listened to the BBC news. They reported that Ahmad Shah Masoud had been attacked — I think he’s been killed. Since I heard it, I’ve been very happy and wanted to share this good news with you.’
As I watched this scene, I assumed that Mullah Shah Mohammad would also welcome the news of the attack on Masoud. But the reaction of the Taliban district chief was completely opposite to what I expected — he became so furious that it shocked me.
With intense anger, he said:
‘If I hadn’t eaten your bread and salt, I’d have dealt with you harshly right now. The death of Ahmad Shah Masoud means that Afghanistan will forever become the property of the Punjabi Pakistanis. I currently have two Punjabis at my headquarters, called “advisers.” Without their permission, I can’t even drink water or go to the toilet. If Masoud is gone, the Punjabis of Pakistan won’t value us at all. Right now, they give us money, resources, and power only because we fight against Masoud.’
The storyteller delivered part of these words in Pashto, with a southern accent.
Because the money changer had spoken ill of Masoud, Mullah Sahib demanded that he immediately return all his money.
At that time, my friend Daryakhan, the money changer, held more than seven lakh Afghanis (about seven million). When the district chief demanded it back, my friend was terrified and deeply unsettled.
I intervened politely and said:
‘Mullah Sahib, please don’t be angry. Daryakhan is an uneducated man — he only said that to please you. I ask that you give him a little time to prepare the money.’
Mullah Shah Mohammad replied:
‘Have it ready by evening. I’ll send my guards for it,’ — he said and left the shop.
This story holds special meaning for me because today, the entire media space is filled with the noise of war between the Taliban and Pakistan. Looking back at the Taliban’s past and their current conflict with Pakistan raises several important questions:
- If Pakistan, seeking its “strategic depth” and dominance over Afghanistan, invested in the Taliban, then why is it now trying to remove them?
- If even senior Taliban figures like Mullah Shah Mohammad understood that the Punjabis’ ambitions were harmful to Afghanistan — and saw Ahmad Shah Masoud as an obstacle to those ambitions — why did they still hate Masoud so deeply that they cannot even bear to see his photograph?
- Now that Pakistan’s rulers, especially the Punjabis — the true power holders of that country — have declared their aim to destroy the Taliban, and a bitter enmity has arisen between these former allies, why do the Taliban still refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of Ahmad Shah Masoud’s war against Pakistan?
- Why do they fail to see that Masoud fought to defend the territorial integrity of all Afghanistan — and proved it in action?
- Why is possessing a photograph of Masoud on one’s mobile phone still considered a serious crime, punishable by imprisonment, torture, insults, and humiliation?
- And finally, where does such deep hatred and poisonous resentment toward Ahmad Shah Masoud come from, that even trampling on his grave cannot ease their inner pain?
