Sahar Gul shuddered for months under a basement in Baghlan
They ripped her fingernails out, broke her fingers
Tortured the child bride with hot irons and pliers
Is that the land of Tagore’s Kabuliwallah - the Afghanistan.
Where is his elephant, his love soaked nuts and raisins
To buy Mini’s affection, and endure the ruthless crowds
Where is that dream merchant selling out human emotion
An innocent abductor of a child’s love, the Afghan Pathan?
Is Sohar Gul, bruised and bloodied, tortured teen bride
With clumps of her hair, chunks of flesh pulled out
For refusing forced prostitution, no Mini or Amina
Where lies the lacuna, in Man, Taliban or Afghanistan?
Written after reading the shocking news on Sahar Gul, a 15 year old child bride, a victim of egregious wounds and underage wedlock, who was rescued on 28 th Dec, 2011 by Baghlan police of Afghanistan
An Afghan commentator on BBC TV said the case brought to light the dire poverty of the people to have to resort to such measures. Our genteel sensibilities are nurtured on an affluent lifestyle.
