India began evacuating its nationals as the Taliban swept into Kabul. The Indian government has rescued hundreds of Indians stranded in Afghanistan, by sending a special flight. A young man named Shivang Dave, from Bhavnagar, Gujarat recently returned to India from Kabul and heaved a sigh of relief. For the past 12 years, Shivang was in Afghanistan working as an engineer in a private firm. He is the grandson of Gujarat's renowned poet Harindra Dave.
Remembering his ordeal, Shivang shared his experience with Asian Voice. “A lot of things unfolded right in front of my eyes,” he said. “I have witnessed explosions and attacks from as close as 40-50 meters. Generally during the elections, bomb attacks were quite common for people living there.”
As he tried to leave Kabul, Shivang was afraid for his life. “I was scared of my journey to the Kabul International Airport, which was already occupied by Taliban. “I faced some immigration issues initially. Fortunately, they allowed the Air India flight to land and pick up the passengers from Kabul. I was holding my breath until the flight took off, afraid that something would go terribly wrong due to the continuous explosions.”
Shivang further added, “Taliban have decided that women in Afghanistan will have rights ‘within the rules of Islamic law or Shariah’, but it is still not clear what that means. It is possible that they may not allow women to work in specific roles.
When asked if he would like to return to Kabul in the future, a resilient Shivang told this newsweekly, “If the situation gets back to normal, I will surely go back to Kabul.”
