The Shaiq family fled Jalalabad after several attacks on the media company that had been built over the past 20 years. “We broadcast movies and music on our channels and make programs about human rights and reports critical of politics. The Taliban don’t like that very much,” Shaiq says with a smile.
Sharq Network has been popular with Western troops present in Afghanistan in recent decades. The Shaiqs were one of many Afghan families who left their fate in the hands of NATO countries, who pledged to build a freer and more open Afghanistan. “From the moment we got American money, we’ve really grown,” Shaiq says. “They liked what we did.”
Right to study
But that success story came to a halt last weekend with a hard blow. Henna, the daughter of 24, is sitting at the kitchen table. She is constantly calling and texting friends in Kabul, who have been sitting at home nervous for days. The Taliban have also been on campus, searching the archives for lists of students. But according to Henna, they were destroyed in time.
“The Afghan leaders of the future were trained at the American University, there were students from all over the country. Girls received a scholarship and could study there,” says Henna. “Conservative Afghans called us ‘the children of America’, so there was a lot of opposition. But we fought on and stood up for our right to study.”
Student Henna Shaiq explains why she and her friends in Kabul feel abandoned by America and other NATO countries after the military has left and the Taliban have recaptured the capital:
–
