India immediately sent crucial relief aid to Afghanistan following the devastating earthquake that killed over 800 people and injured thousands. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) strongly condemned the April Pahalgam attack in Jammu & Kashmir but has yet to enforce significant sanctions. In this exclusive interview, Mariam Solaimankhil, Member of Afghanistan’s Parliament in Exile, discusses the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the international community’s response.
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00:00Viewers, today I have with me Mariam Soleimankhil. She's a member of Afghanistan's parliament in
00:21exile. Thank you so much, Mariam, for speaking with Asianet News. You know, we both are speaking
00:27at a time when yesterday we saw there was a major earthquake in Afghanistan, magnitude
00:32six, and India was one of the first countries who've actually, you know, came out not only
00:38expressing condolences, definitely Prime Minister Modi and Jaishankar tweeted about it, but it also
00:44extended help to Afghans. You know, this is not the first time that we have seen, no matter which
00:52government is in power, we have seen that consistently Indians have extended their help
00:57for Afghans, whether it was before US invasion or definitely after US withdrawal. How significant
01:04is this relationship between both the countries? Well, first and foremost, thank you for having
01:09me today on this rather solemn day where we've lost countless lives. I mean, one family alone
01:17lost 17 members of their family, their wife, their kids, everyone. And during the darkest
01:23times, India stood up immediately. They didn't hesitate for a minute. There weren't words
01:28of condemnation. There weren't words of, I'm saying condemnation because of everything that's
01:33happened in the past, but they weren't words of sympathy. It was just action. And India has
01:39countless times done the same thing. Whenever a tragedy happens, when a tragedy occurs, they've
01:44never politicized it. And they've been there on the humanitarian level, helping the people
01:49on the ground. So the Afghan nation appreciates it and sees it.
01:54I think last to last year, we saw that US actually cut down the aid for Afghans. And they said that
02:01the reason was because it was going into the coffers of Taliban. You know, people there need basic
02:07health facilities, basic education, basic facilities. How important it is for world's oldest democracy,
02:17to actually come to the rescue of Afghans? You know, the first, the hafazard withdrawal that
02:23happened in August 2021. And then it cuts down aid. Do you think that Washington needs to relook at
02:28its policy, which it holds towards Afghanistan? I think when we look at the word democracy,
02:33and what's the oldest democracy, we can look into cultures like your country and my country.
02:38And it's built on an older version of democracy, where we really empower the people.
02:43And we have tribal elders, and we have real representation of our people. So that aside,
02:51one of the global powers is the United States, and they're the ones who control it all.
02:57Yes, we need healthcare, we need education, but we can't ostracize half the population,
03:03which is the women, right? So right now, if you want to help the people on a grassroots level,
03:09you want to open an NGO, the first thing you have to do is register with the Taliban. So that means
03:14only Taliban-approved NGOs are allowed to work in Afghanistan. This mechanism needs to be changed.
03:20People need the aid from the UN, from the United States, from the whole world, not just the US,
03:28but handed to the right hands, the trusted hands, the Afghan people to be able to disperse that aid
03:34correctly, where that money does not get into the hands of terrorists. How much aid do you have to
03:40give for women's health? I'll give you an example. When women aren't allowed to become midwives or
03:46doctors anymore, and they're not allowed to see male doctors. So who are you helping at the end of
03:51the day? So not just a mechanism for aid needs to be made, but the mechanism where women feel in control
03:59of their own lives, in control of their own health, in control of their own education, none of that
04:04exists right now. So handing over money to the Taliban isn't the answer. And recognition of the
04:13Taliban isn't the answer as well, unless the people of Afghanistan recognize themselves first before
04:21anyone in the globe does. And India, in particular, has done a great job in being able to politically
04:27work with the Taliban without recognizing them, with understanding what the nuances is in regard to
04:35women's rights and what's happening. So yes, aid needs to get dispersed, aid needs to get to Afghanistan,
04:41but in the correct way to the most deprived people in Afghanistan. And so that's a little bit more
04:47complicated than just opening up the money lines again. You know, I remember one conversation that I
04:53had with another member of Afghanistan's parliament in exile, Mirwais Balkhi. He was the former education
05:01minister in Afghanistan. And he told me that we talk about international community, but where it is,
05:06I mean, it has been so many years that Taliban has taken over Afghanistan. There are condemnation
05:12definitely across the world, but on ground, there's nothing happening. You know, human rights abuses
05:18continue to happen. Women continue to suffer. What exactly can the so-called international community do?
05:25The international community is saying nothing. Afghan blood, it feels worthless at this point. You see
05:33children dying, you see women being murdered. There was a story of a Taliban killing two of his wives
05:39because he said that they were sick. So that goes unanswered. If disputes happen and a woman goes missing,
05:45it's called an internal issue within the household and no one takes it seriously. There are no human
05:51rights organizations that I see on the ground. There is no safe place for Afghan women or Afghan
05:57youth or Afghan men, anyone, any Afghan citizen to go to and ask for help or just record the atrocities
06:04that's happening to them. So there's very few outlets. And at that point, what can you do whenever
06:09you know the world has abandoned you? What do you do? You start living under those rules. You're too afraid
06:15to stand up against what's happening. There is no way for you to raise your voice. So eventually
06:20it's going to implode. When the people get hungry enough, sadly to speak, but that's the direction
06:27it's going towards. The Taliban are not taking care of the Afghan nation and they're going to have to
06:32pay for it eventually. Do you think that India being the world's largest democracy and definitely,
06:37you know, the goodwill that it shares with Afghans, people to people connect,
06:41do you think that India can do more in order to actually address these human rights issues?
06:47Of course, of course, India has built up strong reputation amongst the Afghan people,
06:54the Afghan nation, and it can be built more on that. But the first thing that the Indians can do
07:00is supply more scholarships to Afghan women, support them online, support them any way they can,
07:08to educate them, to help them, to empower them, to speak, to only send female delegates to Afghanistan
07:14to speak with the Taliban. That's one step that every country in the world should do. And that's
07:19the only way to break the ice is to bring financial pressure on them as well as political pressure on
07:24the Taliban to say, hey, you know, women are also human beings as well. They deserve a right to have
07:29their voices heard. They deserve a right to be seen as human beings. We're not asking for much.
07:35Afghan women are not asking for much. They're asking to be seen as human beings. And you don't hear as
07:41much coming out of Afghanistan these days because they're lived by the international community. So
07:46from India to the United States to all of the Islamic world, especially the Islamic world, which I haven't
07:53seen anything from, why are they not building that bridge? Why are they not building that bridge for
07:59Afghan women, for other Muslims to come in and speak with the Taliban and begin this? It's not happening.
08:05They're intimidating the entire world with their version of Islam, which they've self-proclaimed
08:11said that we are the only Islamic nation in the world. So that says it all.
08:16Under Taliban, there is an oppression, you know, which is going on in Afghanistan. But when it comes
08:20to cross-border terrorism, Afghanistan is again suffering at the hands of Pakistan. How do you view this?
08:26I think India and Afghanistan have suffered for decades. Since 1947, the attacks on Kashmir was
08:33happening. But we can't just look at it as India and Pakistan. The entire world suffers from terrorism
08:39coming out of Pakistan. From Bangladesh to, we have to remember, Osama bin Laden was found only a few
08:46kilometers away from one of the most important military bases in Pakistan. And it's a safe haven for
08:54terrorists. And just a few days ago, after the flooding that happened in Pakistan, you saw the
09:00heads of Lashkar Taiba on social media, video proof, walking around with the leaders of the ISI,
09:07with the military generals, with their political figures, handing out help to the people. What does
09:13that do? That shows them in a holy light. That shows them whitewashing their crimes. And that helps the
09:19recruiting process keep on going. And who suffers? Not just Afghans, not Indians, but the entire global
09:25community. We have Asim Muneer, who is threatening nuclear annihilation on the entire world. And then
09:31the next day, President Trump is having breakfast with him, right? So how can a man blackmail an entire
09:39global society with nuclear weapons, harbor terrorists, create an entire economy based off of terrorism,
09:46and still be allowed to have nuclear weapons? That's the real question that haunts me all the time,
09:53is that this country can technically threaten the entire world with nuclear annihilation.
09:59Harbor Osama bin Laden, create dozens, countless terrorists, dozens of terrorist organizations and
10:06countless terrorists, be responsible for killing countless people, 4 million to be exact, Afghans,
10:15since all of these cold wars and Mujahideen wars and Taliban have been created. And they still have
10:21nuclear weapons. So the world has a lot of consequences to see from this mess that we we call
10:27Pakistan today. And recently we saw that Shanghai Corporation Organization Grouping also condemned
10:34Pahelkaam attack. This is a this is a big news for India because ironically Pakistan is also a member of
10:40SCO. But this joint statement which has come out, it's a it's a big win for India. How do you look
10:47at this joint statement? Of course, there are big countries involved in it. There are Central Asian
10:53nations which are very close to Pakistan condemning what's happened in Kashmir. How do you look at it?
11:00I think it's long overdue. I think they should have condemned it earlier. I think it's great that they
11:05condemned it. But let's see action behind it. Where are the sanctions? Where are holding accountable?
11:10We see the head of Lashkar Taiba openly walking around having events in Pakistan. Why is he not
11:16arrested? Why is he not put to court? So it's a good step in the right direction. But we need to see
11:22more from from the SCO. What's the future that you see for Afghanistan? I mean, it happened in 2021
11:30that Taliban took over Kabul. But since then, you know, nothing much has changed in Afghanistan.
11:37Every now and then we see that diktat has been issued by Taliban, you know, more human rights abuses.
11:45What is it that you foresee can happen in future in terms of Afghanistan in terms of the people of
11:53Afghanistan? The easy answer would be a very sad answer that history would repeat itself. But I'm I'm an
12:00optimist. I believe that we've learned our lessons and I can see that people's eyes have been opened up
12:06about Pakistan. You can see that every single time one of the resistance groups, any of the resistance
12:12groups, any human being that goes towards Pakistan should try to get help again to come and take over
12:17Afghanistan is shunned by the entire community. I have hope and I have faith in the people of Afghanistan.
12:23I do believe that we're in an interconnected world due to technology. I think that there's a lot
12:28happening behind the scenes that most people can't talk about in social media. And eventually,
12:34I believe that a free Afghanistan will happen where the people decide what their future is.
12:39And that's the only thing I hope for is I don't want to see warlords. I don't want to see past
12:43politicians. I don't need to see anyone from before. But I believe that the youth of Afghanistan,
12:49I believe that the newer generation of Afghanistan is so interconnected.
12:53And what moves them more is the positive people like how the Indians helped Afghans, right? This is
13:01changing minds in Afghanistan. It's inspiring people. I truly believe that a brighter future is there
13:08and the new generation is going to be the one who creates it. And the natural opposition is women.
13:14I do believe that if given a chance, that women can create a truly peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan,
13:22which will create a truly peaceful and prosperous region, which will create a truly peaceful and
13:27prosperous world. So that's my hope. That's my dream. And I believe that it'll happen one day.
13:34You know, you talk about people who are in Afghanistan and suffering at the hands of Taliban. But
13:39of course, there are people like you who had to, you know, kind of flee Afghanistan, leave their
13:43homeland. It is also a tragedy. I mean, what is the general sentiment in Afghan diaspora who is now in
13:49exile in, you know, different countries, UK, US? It's a collective trauma. Me and my colleagues have
13:56talked about this many times. It's a different type of PTSD. It's a different type of survivor skills. I think
14:02many of us regret leaving the country. And it's hard. You have a better life. You're safer. You have
14:12luxuries in life whenever you live outside of Afghanistan. But you watch your own people crumbling.
14:18You watch your own people having no rights. You watch your own people just losing your culture,
14:23losing your identity, losing who you are. The culture that my parents raised me with,
14:28the culture that most of my colleagues were raised in, that's being taken away. And Islamist
14:35extremist ideology is being replaced from that beautiful culture, those beautiful
14:42traditions that we had. So that's traumatizing. So majority of us are very traumatized.
14:48And the worst part is whenever you speak about it, most of the international community will say,
14:54well, hey, you're not in the country anymore. You can't speak. But whenever you're in the country,
14:59you can't speak because you have a gun pointed at your head. So who's allowed to speak? It's almost
15:03like they've shut our mouths by force and they have guns to all of our heads. When each person that's
15:09left Afghanistan is still deeply connected and deeply rooted back home. So every Afghan voice,
15:15every person in exile right now, they have something to say. And it's not just their words. We're all
15:23connected with people back home who give us messages and depend on us to relay that message to the rest
15:28of the world. And that's the only way that they feel seen or heard. So thank you again for giving
15:34me this opportunity to speak because it's not just me speaking. It's the people who call on me and count
15:40on me and write me letters and send me voice messages day in and day out who see people like me
15:46as their hope, as their light. So thank you for extending that like and reflecting it throughout the world.
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