The Shepherd of Readersburg | 05 September 2021 | Fiction: Sahraa loves her new job. She is a public relations executive at a toy company. 

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It's a modern profession and even more modern for her country. But she doesn't know about its modern status. Her mother knows.

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'Mor, I will be a little late today. Not before 6,' she announces as she picks up her bag to leave.

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'Try to make it earlier. But don't make it later than 6,' her mother said from the sofa, 'What's happening in office? Anything special?'

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'A press conference. Our company is launching a new toy, a kitchen set. Our MD is going to announce its launch to the media,' Sahraa says looking at herself in the mirror to check the burqa for one last time before stepping out.

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Her mother is happy that her daughter has a career and she is earning her own money. It is a novel concept in the country they live in—Afghanistan. This generation of youngsters, especially women, are realising their dreams.

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It's heartening. It's progressive. Saharaa's mother could not realise her own ambitions because she could not go to school or college. When she was growing up, the country was under the rule of the Taliban.

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Women were not allowed to step out of their houses, to go to schools and colleges, forget offices. They were attacked and abused and even killed frequently and no one was punished. 

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But twenty years ago, in 2001, the USA came, and stayed, in Afghanistan. Its soldiers guarded the country and Taliban had to leave and settle on the periphery.

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There would be violent attacks through bomb blasts once in a while. But the people, in general, saw their lives change. The Taliban men could not attack more severely because the US soldiers were equipped with much more modern rifles and weapons.

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People could now send their daughters to school. Women could pick up decent jobs. Shopping malls popped up. People were free to use social media. They were more connected with the world outside their own surroundings and their country.

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Sahraa grew up in this environment. She is now twenty-one years old and working at a real office. But her mother remains worried. That's because the Afghanistan and the US government have signed a document. It's called the Doha Agreement.

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This agreement says that the US would leave Afghanistan. This means that the Taliban would now enter the cities and could even rule again. It means that the country would push back to what it was during the time that Sahraa's mother was growing up—a country where women were prevented from going to school and women being in offices was an alien concept.

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It's 6pm and Sahraa is not back yet. Her phone goes unanswered. Her mother is sitting at the door with her gaze fixed at their little gate.

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At 6.05pm, there is a flutter. The gate opens. It's Sahraa! Her mother breathes a sigh of relief.

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A week later, however, Sahraa joins her mother in worrying not just about getting late at work but going to office. The US has left Afghanistan and the Taliban has taken over. The Taliban men are going to form the government. 

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Its men are going to be ministers and lawmakers.

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'My mother was always worried...because even though the US was here, there was a war going on, after all. But at least with the US around I could go to school, make friends, work at an office! Will I never be able to go to office ever again? Will they kill us for having gone to office at all?' Sahraa writes in her diary that night.

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News lead: The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 when the Taliban failed to hand over Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda chief to the US. Laden was living in Afghanistan. 

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The US had asked the Taliban government of Afghanistan to hand over Laden after the terrorist attacks on World Trade Centre buildings on September 11, 2001. When the Taliban failed to do so, the US invaded Afghanistan. 

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They still couldn't find Laden. But the US army stayed back and carried on its search. In 2011 they found Laden. He was killed during a raid at his house in Abbottabad. 

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Meanwhile, the Taliban reorganised immediately after the US invasion and has carried out raids, ambushes, suicide attacks throughout the country. 

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Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani were the Presidents of Afghanistan during the US stay. Ashraf Ghani fled to Tajikistan when Taliban came back after the US declared that it will withdraw from Afghanistan this week.

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Amarullah Saleh immediately declared himself President. 

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History: Earlier, in 1979, Russia invaded Afghanistan and stayed put for 10 years till 1989. 

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The Taliban emerged in 1994. It ruled from 1996 to 2001. It was a group of students who had fought against Russia during its invasion of the country.