Tête-à-tête with a Kabuli

Being part of a campus that takes pride in its culturally diverse student body, interactions with students from different parts of the world is a regular thing in Christ. While working on my Indian Foreign Policy assignment, I decided to interact with somebody from a country which has always been my area of interest-Afghanistan.

I was introduced to Sadam Kamal by a friend of mine. He is studying Bachelors in Computer Application in Christ. Ethnically, a Pashtun, Sadam’s family originally hails from a district in Central Afghanistan called Maidan Wardak. However, once the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, repeated harassments by the Talibs on his family members, led the family to shift to Kabul where the conditions were comparatively better. Hence, it can be said that Sadam was almost completely brought up in the beautiful and lively city of Kabul.

Sadam has been to India eight times previously and has visited places like Delhi, Goa, Gokarna, etc. He chose to study in India because the social and political conditions in Afghanistan are not stable at the moment. It is not very safe to study there. Education is disrupted due to constant violence and conflict. Hence, students who want to pursue higher education prefer to go abroad to do so. He came to India as it easier to get visa to study in India as compared to many other Western European countries or USA. Also, according to him India is known for its technical prowess. Since he wanted to pursue a degree in computer application, India was an ideal place to come and study. Sadam chose to particularly apply and thereafter study in Christ as he was aware of the excellent national ranking of its BCA course. Besides, he also had a friend from Kabul studying in Christ who had given him positive reviews about this institute.

When asked about the cultural similarities between India and Afghanistan, Sadam spoke about the many commonalities he finds between the two cultures ranging from food, dress, the manner of interactions between people, common interests like cricket, etc. . He has a great love for Indian culture and way of life and is curious and interested to learn more about India. Sadam claimed that one of the major reasons why a lot of Afghans come to India is because here they are treated very well.

The general view in Afghanistan among the Afghans about India is quite positive. Bollywood plays an important role in portraying Indian society and different aspects of India to the Afghans. As a matter of fact, Sadam himself learnt how to speak Hindi by regularly watching Hindi movies of Bollywood. Also, apparently the history textbooks in Afghanistan mention India ‘more than a hundred times’. They harp on the fact that modern day states of India and Afghanistan have a close historical connection or bond. Afghan students including Sadam are well versed about the fact that since the ancient period, there was flow of trade, people, etc between the areas which presently constitute the two countries.

Sadam is quite informed of the different aspects in India-Afghanistan relations. He is aware that India has been making efforts to enhance ties with Afghanistan by making investments and initiating projects involving Afghanistan. When asked whether he knew of any such projects. He spoke about the TAPI pipeline, which is a gas pipeline network involving Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. He spoke about India’s involvement in building dams in Afghanistan for production of electricity and cooperation between the two countries in cricket where India has provided a home base to Afghanistan in Greater Noida. His conversation reflected the trust India has been able to achieve among the Afghan people which is only growing day by day paving the way for enhanced and significant Indian role in the Afghan region.

Since security is now the most important concern for the people in Afghanistan, Sadam is of the opinion that this is the area where India and Afghanistan can further enhance their cooperation. This is because terrorism is a concern for both the countries. He also thinks animosity towards Pakistan is another major common cause or factor for the two countries to strengthen their cooperation. He firmly believes that in the coming years, Afghan-India relations will grow enormously covering many more areas and dimensions.

The best thing that he finds here in India is the freedom that he is able to enjoy in many ways, which he says is unfortunately lacking in the Afghan society which is much more conservative and restricted giving little space to the youth to express themselves or even enjoy life as they can do in India.

Though he comes completely from a science background, Sadam has a great deal of knowledge about the political situation in Afghanistan and is updated with the current happenings like the peace talks initiatives taking place with the Taliban. While he desperately wants peace to prevail in Afghanistan, he does not want the Taliban to gain power in the formal government of the country. He strongly believes that any peace deal can never be achieved with a group like the Taliban. As discussed earlier, he is also relatively better aware about international relations between India and Afghanistan. Frankly, it was a pleasant surprise to interact with a foreign student who is so well-informed not only about their own homeland and India but also about the foreign relations and bond between the two countries. His willingness to openly discuss various issues was truly a great help.