Afghan Activist Describes the Situation on the Ground

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Let me first begin by asking you, what is the situation like there on the ground? And are you safe?

PASHTANA DURRANI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LEARN AFGHANISTAN: First of all, thank you for having me. The situation on ground is not very, what do we call it, hopeful right now. I am safe at the moment, but, apart from that, I just got news the minute I got here for the interview that they have got inside the houses of the people who are working with the government or who have worked with the government, who have worked with international NGOs. They have seized their cars, their rifles, guns, whatever they could in Kandahar. So, bad situation on ground for you.

GOLODRYGA: How does that make you feel? And how concerned are you about what’s to come?

DURRANI: Imagine your children are crying because there is ongoing fighting just because they are celebrating. That’s what I got from one of my staff members right there. They’re like, our children are crying, they cannot sleep because Taliban kept on fighting, celebrating fires the whole day. Then imagine you have to leave your house in the morning and you have flee because that is only thing you can do. You have to leave everything that belongs to your (INAUDIBLE) or to you. That’s me today, right? That’s Afghans today. That’s everyone that I’m talking about. That doesn’t make me feel anything less than sad and hopeless and furious at everyone who left us in this chaos and mess.

GOLODRYGA: Who do you blame for leaving you in this what you call chaos and blame?

DURRANI: My own government for falling back, not resisting, for not pushing the Taliban out, because they knew. They had intel. Why didn’t they? Because they were caught up. They were too busy politicizing whatever petty politics they were doing. (AUDIO GAP) I am also — I’m sad at the West, who claim to be all like human rights defenders and pro-human rights. everything. Like, you all — they all sit together and pass all these human rights declarations and universal rights in the U.N. And what are they doing, actually? They’re standing by when Afghanistan is burning. People are fleeing their houses. The children are dying of starvation. Women are sitting under trees with no tent, no shelter. People are haven’t — are — haven’t drank water for hours or even days. And then they claim to be like the world leaders. So, how did this happen? How did the Taliban do this? They had all sort of leverage. They could have pressurized the Taliban, delegitimized at Doha, but they didn’t. They stood by. So that makes me sad about them, about their leadership.