Related articles and links |  1 of 3

Editor's note: For security reasons, Christianity Today is granting anonymity to the author of this article.

Kabul has become a very, very busy place 18 months after Afghanistan was liberated. The city is full of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that hope to help Afghans rebuild their devastated country.

Many Christian organizations have registered here with the government since the fall of the Taliban in 2002. But the situation for religious minorities is a bit complex. The U.S. State Department recently said that the situation has improved significantly for religious minorities. In one way this is true. Previously, if any Afghan was found with a Bible, the Taliban would have at the very least tortured him and put him in prison. If he had confessed to being a Christian, they would certainly have killed him. After Afghan workers for Christian groups were accused of being Christians, the Taliban were constantly threatening to kill them.

I had an old rabbi in my office yesterday. He is the only Jew left in the whole of Afghanistan and he guards the synagogue here in Kabul. I sat with him probably for two hours and he shared all the terrible things he went through during the Taliban time. He was very severely beaten at least five times and was imprisoned in Kabul's infamous Pul-e-Charkhi prison for more than 50 days. While they beat him, they demanded he become a Muslim. But he refused. Several times they threatened to kill him. He suffered a lot and showed me signs of severe beatings. It was sad to see this man who is very poor and hardly has enough money to eat. We will see how we can help him. I went to see the synagogue, where he lives, and found it terribly run down. He told me that he felt quite free and he even wants to stay here in Kabul.

Recently I was approached by the ISAF (the multinational International Security Assistance Force) here. They asked me to take them to the places where the Hindus and Sikhs are. I took the officer in charge of the German army unit to one of the Hindu temples. Afghan Hindus also told us sad stories of how they were mistreated during the Taliban time. Hindus and Sikhs left Afghanistan after being constantly threatened and having some of their possessions looted. In the summer of 2001, just before the Shelter Now International workers were arrested, the government of Afghanistan wanted to enforce a law that all non-Muslims had to wear a yellow badge on their clothes. When that ISAF officer asked the Afghan Hindus if they faced any problems at the moment, they replied that they have absolute freedom to meet. The rabbi reported the same.

As Christians from overseas, we are able to meet in our church building again. We were not allowed to do so when the Taliban were in power. We had to meet in different houses. The Taliban would not let us go back to our original church building. When it comes to Afghans confessing they have become Christians, this is still very dangerous. They could be imprisoned and even killed. The present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mullah Fazul Shinwari, on one occasion openly stated that if Afghans became Christians they would have to be killed.

Last year, George Thomas, a CBN journalist, was in Kabul. He asked the Afghan Minister of Justice, Asharaf Rasooli, about changes since the fall of the Taliban. Rasooli mentioned a number of good changes that have taken place, including that girls are now allowed to go to school. When CBN asked him about religious conversion, Rasooli said, "No Muslim is allowed to convert to another religion."

next page... |  1 of 3

April (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47