Jeddah, 26 November — Jeddah’s Afghan market — the Souk Al-Bikhariya — is a little bit of Afghanistan east of the Balad — although it is amazing how few people in the city have been there or even know of its existence.
It is one of Jeddah’s treasures, a whole street of Aladdin’s caves, stuffed to the brim with glorious carpets, fabulous rugs, antique costumes, jewelry and other wonders from Central Asia. I had not been there for a couple of years — and wondered what the Afghans traders felt about events back home. Keen to find out I headed for the market after Isha prayer evenings ago. But as a Westerner, would I be welcome?
Any concerns I had about that vanished the minute I walked into a carpet shop where I had bought a rug two years ago. “How are you, my friend?” exclaimed its beaming owner, Abdulrahim, a Turkmen from northeastern Afghanistan. “Where have you been all this time?” The warmth in his greeting was evident. In any event there were several Western expats browsing in the shop — proof that there was nothing to fear here.
The bigger surprise was the unanimous approval for the war in Afghanistan.
“I’m so happy that the Taleban have been defeated,” said Abdulrahim when asked about the conflict. His nephew nodded in agreement. “We’re all happy here.”
Coming from the north of Afghanistan and from one of the ethnic minorities opposed to the Taleban, perhaps he might have been expected to say that. Perhaps he just hoped to sell another carpet. But it soon became apparent that the other Afghans in the souk all felt the same. They were overjoyed that the Taleban had gone. And there was no doubting their sincerity. The beaming smiles on their faces as they spoke of their pleasure at the Taleban’s demise said everything.
The story was the same from older and younger Afghans in the market alike. Depth of religious conviction and tribal origin made no difference. Mohammed, a Tajik from the north, grinned effusively.
“It is very good news. I am so very happy.” Across the street, the bubbling enthusiasm of the rather Westernized jeans-wearing and beardless Ali, a young Pashtoon from Kabul, was no different to that of Abdullah, another Pashtoon trader old enough to be his father.
His younger children live in Kabul, but two elder sons help him in his carpet shop in the market.
With flowing beard and dressed in traditional Afghan costume, I imagined that he might have had some sympathy for the Taleban. Not a bit of it. “I am very pleased. Now, at last, my two young daughters can go to school.”
The longer people talked, the more their hatred for the Taleban came spilling out, as if bottled up and unspoken for years because they — like their countrymen back home — had resigned themselves to Taleban rule and were afraid to speak out. Once started, there was no stopping it.
“The Taleban are bad people,” said Abdullah, “They ruined Afghanistan.” Another younger Afghan, whose family is still in Kabul, was more bitter. The smile on his face at the defeat of the Taleban froze, then vanished, and replaced by cold fury.
“The Taleban destroyed my country — they, Osama Bin Laden and his Arab friends.” He was particularly angry about their oppression of women.
“They could not work; they were forced to stay at home. If their husbands were dead, they had no one to support them.” He said he had hated the way they were forced to cover up. The clothes they had to wear were “like tents”. He almost spat out the words.
So what about the bombing and the civilian casualties? No one had much to say. One or two shook their head in sadness shrugging their shoulders at the same time — as if to say that these things happen in war. Another simply said: “Americans are our friends now”.
When it came to the future, there was less consensus. Abdullah was sure that there will now be peace, with a broad-based government installed and Zahir Shah restored to the throne. “We all like the King,” he said. His nephew again nodded. The belief that Afghanistan’s years of war were almost over was shared by many others.
But not all. Abdulrahim, the Turkmen, was distinctly unforthcoming when asked whether he thought whether the Northern Alliance would share power and the years of conflict be over. Three times he was asked. Three times he changed the subject to carpets. It said much about his fears.
