Letter From Helmand.8: "The Singers Have Been Silenced"

[Note: This is the eighth letter from an Afghan friend inside the country about life since the Taliban took over control.]

Dear David:

One month has passed since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. We are witnessing huge changes in the daily life of the people. The majority wear a black turban or hat now. Women's portraits have been removed from public view and the panel where  women's portraits once hung was torn. 

No women are seen in the bazaar. 

The singers and artists have been silenced. Illegal immigration out of Afghanistan has increased. Worse than anything, poverty has increased, beggars have increased three-fold as people are selling their belongings to get food. 

According to the United Nations Development Programme, 72 percent of the people lived below the poverty line when the Taliban took over, and now it has increased to 97 percent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said it was deeply concerned with the economic situation facing Afghanistan and warned of a looming humanitarian crisis. The banks are closing their doors. 

On top of all of this, we are  dealing  with a drought. It is officially estimated that 40 percent of Afghanistan’s crops have been destroyed due to bad weather. 

The prices of food and fuel have doubled. The price of a five-liter can of oil was 420 Afghanis and now it is 850 Afghanis. Construction projects have ceased, and employees are not being paid. There has been a disruption in imports and exports. 

My parents have had to sell one-third of their sheep in order to provide food for our family. 

We hear  that ISIS and Al-Qaeda will revive again in our country. Watching the cruelty and injustice of a handful of wild, illiterate and fascist Taliban has distressed my soul.