The Taliban cut off his finger for voting, he defied them again – Newspaper

KABUL: The Taliban cut Safiullah Safi's right index finger to vote in 2014. That didn't stop the businessman from doing it again.

Safi's defiance in the 2019 presidential elections in Afghanistan on Saturday aroused admiration after a 38-year-old photo showing his missing left index and the left one stained with indelible ink was posted on Twitter, indicating that he had voted . Challenging the threat of militant attacks and delays at the polling stations, Afghans cast their vote in an important test of the ability of the West-backed government to protect democracy.

The Taliban regime was overthrown by US-led forces in 2001. But the Islamic insurgency is now at its most powerful since its defeat, violently interrupting the nascent elections of democracy and carrying out horrible, often deadly, reprisals for those who participate. During the 2014 presidential vote, Taliban fighters cut off the fingers of at least six voters.

"I know it was a painful experience, but it was only a finger," Safi said by phone. "When it comes to the future of my children and my country, I will not sit even if they cut my hand." Safi described how in 2014 he had cast his vote and a day later he traveled from the capital Kabul, where he lives. , to the eastern city of Khost, his finger marked by the ink of the vote.

"The Taliban took me out of the car and drove it off the road where they established a court," he said.

"They cut my finger and asked me why I had participated in the elections despite their warning." […] My family told me not to do it this time, but instead I took them all to cast our votes. ” The show of resistance was warmly received by Afghans on social networks, many of whom fear the return to the Taliban government and the end of democracy. and freedoms gained with effort.

"He voted for democracy and for saying no to the Taliban system," said Twitter user Kabuli.

In the parts of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban, a larger territory now than at any other point since 2001, the vote is especially fraught with danger and participation tends to be very low. The insurgents closed many voting centers in a demonstration of their authority.

Posted on Dawn, September 29, 2019