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(Abul Kasem’s note: A reader from Afghanistan sent me this account)
 

A 70-year-old Imam of our mosque rapes a 12-year-old-girl

During the Taliban days, virtually every kid, in addition to studying in school, was forced to learn Islamic subjects at mosques. As a very young child (I was only ten then), I vividly remember the mindless brutalities with which those imams enforced Islamic tenets to the tender and impressionable children. Those imams were authorized to perpetrate any sort of degrading, painful, and cruel punitive measures upon those young learners of Islam. My experience of those days in the Taliban mosque has led me to strongly believe that most imams are sadists, homosexuals, rapists, and roots of terrorism and fundamentalism. I was merely a kid of ten years when I was forced to study those Islamic subjects. After a few months, having achieved a lot of progress in my studies, I was appointed as a controller on other boys and girls, who were very young— between seven to twelve years old. Our imam was a very old man of approximately 70 years. I remember one of those girls, studying Islamic subjects, was about twelve years old. Everyday we studied in the mosque for four hours. After four hours of torment, when we were set free, everyone used to leave the mosque, except the girl, who had an affair with the old imam. Even at that tender age, I strongly believed that a minor girl couldn’t have such an affair on her own will. However, I believed that, through intimidation and temptation that imam must have forced her to do so. I closely followed the incident for several days. Having confirmed that something fishy was going on, I consulted with my closest friends to find out why the girl would not leave the mosque, and what she did in the mosque while everyone was out. Honestly, this was not an easy task, as my friends were very afraid to enter the mosque, since they would have been severely punished had they witnessed the Imam raping the girl. Nevertheless, I did pick up courage, and went back in the mosque to learn about what was happening vis-à-vis the girl. When I entered into the imam’s room, adjacent to the prayer hall, I saw the imam, raping the girl. I knew, without any excuse to enter the imam’s room, that imam would severely torture me for my insolence. I made the pretext that two boys were fighting, and I had to seek his assistance to settle their commotion. Afterwards, I narrated the story to my friends, who, in turn, told the story to their families. Astonishingly, none of our families accepted of what we had witnessed the imam did to the child-girl. They believed we had lied to them, and kept forcing us go to the mosque to further continue our Islamic education under the subjugation of the rapist imam. After experiencing such a disgusting episode, I never ever trusted any Imam and I would never do so

It was not the only Islamic sexual depravity I had witnessed with my own eyes. Our teacher in the school was a homosexual. He was a Qari/Hafiz (a person who has memorized the Qur’an word by word) and an Imam too. He used to have sex with boys. In Islamic countries, imams are believed to be the representatives of Allah. To me, however, they are really the sources of all evils and calumnies.

Attack on wedding parties and picnics

In part 1, I mentioned that the Talibans had totally banned all music, dancing, amusement, and recreation. However, people were secretly holding music parties during wedding. If they were arrested in such music parties, they would be severely beaten, whipped, and imprisoned. The Talibans strongly believed that Islam has banned music, which is true. If you discuss with an imam, you will learn that listening to music is forbidden in Islam. I remember hundreds of wedding parties in which grooms, their fathers, and their brothers were severely beaten by the Talibans, and then incarcerated. This was the Islamic punishment for listening to music. Dancing even had more sever punishments. Not only that one could not hold live music parties, but the Talibans also did not allow listening to recorded music in weddings. During the dreadful Taliban days, a wedding party was not a happy event, rather a sad one. Life was a nightmare in the Taliban era, and it is no better even today since Afghanistan is still under the firm grip of Islam.

Our everyday life was filled with humiliation, frustration, and pessimism.

Tailban style of playing football

Believe me, Talibans had all systems in place. They had their rulings on how to celebrate one’s wedding party. One had to utterly obey the Talibans in all aspects of life; including their haircut, apparel, facial grooming, teeth cleaning, eye lashes, beard, nails, pubic hair, and so on. Taliban had also their own sports system, even though people were extremely disappointed, frustrated, and did not like to participate in any games and physical exercises. Talibanic style of football was pretty much different, particularly in terms of clothing. During the Taliban era, a footballer must be totally covered while playing football. Talibans believed that the standard football clothes were sexually seductive. As a young kid, I remember when my class fellows and I were severely beaten because we wore standard football clothes. We were playing in our school football ground when we noticed a group of Taliban with whips at hand entered the pitch and started beating us. In fact, they had mercy on us, because they just beat us with whips, slapped us, and then left. I clearly remember how footballers were severely tortured in full public gaze, and then imprisoned. This was Talibanic style of football. I hope no human being ever experience on earth, what we endured in Afghanistan.

Growth of small terrorist groups in schools

As a school kid, I remember how small terrorist groups were formed in our school. These groups were called “bands,” whose job it were to harass, kidnap, and kill ordinary civilians. They used to practice terrorist tactics. You might have watched al-Qaeda terrorists practicing harassment activities, shooting, kidnapping, hijacking, and so on. These small terrorist groups put the same actions into practice. These groups were aids to Taliban forces. Now, when I remember all those tormenting and terrible days and nights, I really get frustrated, crossed, and upset. Those blind followers of barbaric Islam have destroyed lives of millions of Afghan people. Even today, after the overthrow of the Taliban regime, Islam has not exited Afghanistan. Many Afghans still adhere to those uncivilized principles of Islam. They want those traditions and customs of fifteen-decades-old to be in place in today’s world. They want to impose their own dark, barbaric, and ignorant will on others through coercion and intimidation. They conveniently forget that today it is an era of civilization, tolerance, understanding, and reconciliation. These people are unpredictable and very dangerous. If one tells them they are incorrect in their thoughts and actions, they will silence their critics through terror, intimidation, harassing, kidnapping, and even killing. I am really petrified with such an Islamic community, where there is no tolerance, no understanding, no social security, and no security of life.

Overturning walls on young boys

I remember once Talibans announced that they were to overturn a brick wall on two young boys who were arrested on charges of having homosexual relationship. It was announced that the sentence of murder would be carried out in the same stadium where the Talibans had executed a woman in public. I have already written about this incidence in part 1. Having stomached such a horrendous Islamic punishment, I had no desire to witness the killing of the homosexual boys by toppling a wall on them. Readers please know that during the Taliban era, there was no judge or prosecutor to investigate the case, or proper trial of the accused. Taliban used to issue verdicts with no appeal rights for the accused person. Taliban verdict was binding and final. Once Talibans had issued a verdict it must be carried out. Nothing could stop them. Now, in the case of these two young boys, they were taken in the stadium, and forced to lie under the wall, which the Talibans had constructed just a while before. The wall was then overturned on those boys leading to their death in a most ignoble and horrendous manner.

An engineer hanged, becomes a mad man

A neighbour of mine was a qualified engineer. He could speak many languages, including English, German, and the national language of Afghanistan. He was intelligent, conscientious, and a hard working person. With four members in his family, he expected he could make a good life for himself and for his family members. I remember, one day, my friend came to me and said that the Talibans had arrested the engineer on charges of a murder. Soon after his arrest, we heard the Taliban verdict that the engineer would be hanged in the stadium. Eventually, without any delay, he was hanged. Curiously, he did not die. He survived, but he is currently a mad man who cannot serve the people and community as he could have before being hanged. The barbaric Taliban used to uproot any intellectual and educated person. I suspect the engineer had to face the draconian Islamic punishment just because he was a professional. Talibans could never tolerate any educated person who would be thorn on their path of Islamisation of Afghanistan. They would suppress anyone who thought and believed differently.

>>> Continued in Part 3