My meeting with Abdul was set some time ago and at that time, I was under the impression that I was meeting him at his home. That changed swiftly when Hamza, my fixer, got a phone call and said, “we’re going to meet my uncle now”. I completely understood that could be the case as Abdul is a senior Taliban member and a high level target. There are factions/cells still out there that want to cause conflict inside Afghanistan as well as the likes of Pakistani who have made him a wanted man.
We arrived in what I can only best describe as a compound area with large steel gates and a small restaurant/cafe inside. Abdul was already there with several bodyguards and his main bodyguard, Khan wali. Always by his side and always armed. Hamza introduced me to him and he welcomed me as a friend. I was touched. We then sat down in a small glazed area and the green tea came out. Something I was offered by everyone I met in Kabul. My purpose of the meeting with him was to chat about his experiences and of course to shoot some portrait shots of him which he had already agreed to. He brought his grandson with him who just sat there and listened to us and looked up at him from time to time. Sweet little kid….
I’d like to put a few things into context here if I may. This is a man that was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay and systematically tortured both physically and mentally by the Americans with the sole purpose of extracting information from him. His faith as a muslim kept him sane and his love of writing poetry. He wrote many books whilst he was there only for the Americans to take them away from him and burn them all.
After his release, he wrote a book called The Broken Shackles of Guantanamo. (Da Guantanamo Matay Zawlanay) detailing his experiences in that infamous detention camp.
I was told that over the years, both CNN and the BBC have requested interviews with him, which he granted. Their promise to Abdul was to print the positive aspects of those interviews. That just didn’t happen. And why? simple, these news corporations are only interested in what they can sell, negative aspects of Afghanistan rather than promoting his Islamic beliefs and all of the positive aspects of his great country.
Abdul had many opinions on what I asked him, via Hamza of course. One thing was for certain though, and this was a question I asked many Afghani’s whilst I was there, Trump? Strange isn’t it, they all had similar opinon’s, as did Abdul. He’s a fool, an idiot, with far too much power and very little sense.
My meeting with Abdul was a humbling one, a positive one and an interesting one. He greeted me as a friend, I shared tea and soup with him and I found him to be a softly spoken man and a true Afghani. Deera Manana Abdul….
Khan wali & Abdul, side by side. Inshallah…