Five months of Pakistani journalist in Jalalabad prison - XXIII
Faizullah Khan was detained by Afghan authorities in eastern Nangarhar province in April 2014.
Part - 23: (Intriguing account of a Pakistani journalist captured in Afghanistan for interview of Taliban leadership)
Read Part - 22 here: Five months of Pakistani journalist in Jalalabad prison – XXII
Every prisoner here had his own different story. Surprisingly, 98% of the detainees considered themselves innocent however; I used to disagree with them in this matter. This issue broke out once again while gossiping one day. I asked all the 22 individuals present in the cell about the crime under which they were detained here. The condition was that each would speak the truth. It turned out that 20 prisoners including me had committed some minor or major crime. It is another aspect that intelligence authorities or other government officials used to exaggerate the criminal activities which increased the problems of the prisoners.
This aspect is also not without interest here that the political leaders which were the Taliban detained on the charges of terrorism were respected to a great extent in the jail. I met very few inmates who opposed the political prisoners. My matter was also political therefore; many prisoners regarded me.
According to them every political prisoner somehow has a relation with the Taliban who are fighting for the freedom of Afghanistan and dignity of Islam.
The time between Asr and Maghrib in jail was quite hectic with an unusual feeling prevailing inside me. Prisoners used to have a walk in the evening and were very fond of Afghani green tea. Afghan food did not contain any spices but was special in taste and flavour.
For Afghan’s, the significance of NADRA’s identity card was more than America’s green card. In jail there were dozens of prisoners who told me that they possess the citizenship of both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
We were provided with the facility of TV after some days. The purpose of the facility was to brainwash the prisoners against Afghan Taliban. Although the inmates were not allowed to keep TV in Guantanamo Bay jail but Abdul Sami obtained it after bribing the authorities heavily. The elderly prisoners watched the 8 p.m. bulletin with great interest. IPL was also on the move in those days and the matches between the teams of Shahrukh Khan and Priety Zinta were seen by the prisoners with lots of eagerness.
On every Thursday Indian films dubbed in Persian and Pushto were watched. Besides this the talk shows aired on their channels targetted Pakistan and strong criticism was made. Similarly Afghan ministers also pour their anger on Pakistan during their parliamentary meetings.
The prisoners also used to discuss the talk shows in which I always defended the legitimate stance of Pakistan. It was often the focus of discussion that Afghan territory till Attock is illegally occupied by Pakistan. I always tried to clarify that Gazi Amanullah Khan, the national hero of Afghanistan, made the Durand Line deal with Britain’s at the time when Pakistan had not came into being therefore, Afghan authorities should contact the Britian government in this regard as Pakistan had not confiscated the areas but attained them after conducting referendum among the people.
I argued that if for a moment the Afghan stance is accepted that Pakistan occupied the Afghan territory then it would be better that the Pakistani Pakhtuns residing till Attock should be asked that whether they want to affiliate themselves again with Afghanistan or not. The answer of majority will certainly be a No .
Interestingly, an elderly Afghan said that it would have been much better that instead of installing the gate till Toor Kham, it would have been placed till Jalalabad making the areas of Kantar, Nangarhar and Lagman a part of Pakistan. The background to this was that the people of these provinces are present in majority in Pakistan and if the areas were included in Pakistan then they did not have to suffer from identity crisis.
For Afghan’s, the significance of NADRA’s identity card was more than America’s green card. In jail there were dozens of prisoners who told me that they possess the citizenship of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. As soon as they cross the border and enter Pakistan, they hand over their Afghan identity card to their relative and become a Pakistani citizen while making use of their Pakistani identity card which they had attained through bribing. This method was going on like this for decades.
Read the Urdu version here: Five months in Jalalabad prison
