Official tyranny

In parts of Ghazni, villagers are being forced to give wood and food to Afghan Local Police (ALP) and pro-government armed militia, and the authorities are not able to stop them.

Locals complain they are pressured to part with cash, the customary oshr, which is a tenth of agricultural produce

In parts of Ghazni, villagers are being forced to give wood and food to Afghan Local Police (ALP) and pro-government armed militia, and the authorities are not able to stop them.

Locals complain they are pressured to part with cash, the customary oshr, which is a tenth of agricultural produce, and firewood, a crying need with the onset of winter.

Every family has to give ALP two or three loads of firewood, according to callers who phoned in to a radio programme called Killid Sobh (morning key) on Killid Radio.

The calls came from districts like Maqour, Qarabag, Geelan and Andar.

Belal said he was a resident of Geelan district. He said ALP extort 3,000 Pakistani Rupees (30 USD), the currency more widely used in many areas along the border here, three loads of firewood and meat that families dry for  consumption during the long, harsh winter months. “They claim the money for protecting people,” an agitated Belal added.

According to callers from the adjoining district of Maqour, the extortionists are the very people who had risen against the Taleban in 2012. They demand two loads of firewood and 14 kg of wheat from every family that lives in areas they control, never mind the persisting drought here.

Nasser who is from Lakhan Khil in Geelan said armed men openly harass locals. “They stand on roads, beat and also arrest passing locals who are accused of helping Taleban. Men who may be travelling with their women folk could be stopped. Women are forced to wait while the men are taken to their posts, put to work, chopping wood or plastering the building, all for free. They have even forced students from 10 schools in our area to work,” he said.

Complaints about the tyranny of ALP and pro-government armed men came also from Qarabagh district. Khan Mohammad Khan, a local, said villagers have received official letters – on letter paper and stamped with the local government seal – requesting them to provide 420 to 490 kg of firewood. Letters warns those who disobey the edict will be dealt with sternly. The letters were left in mosques in Qarabagh’s Askarkoot, Khoonian, Lewanai Bazar, Amogai and other villages.

Many families have left Andar district because of this rampant, daily intimidation and coercion. “Since four years, people have been handing over 500 Pakistani rupees (5 USD) and in some areas 2,000 rupees (20 USD) worth of provisions every month. Every year, they give new blankets and mattresses, said a villager who identified himself as Zekrullah from Andar district. The burden has become intolerable in villages reeling in persisting drought, where apart from farming there is no other source of employment. “People don’t know where to get the money to pay alimony but they are being forced to provide the needs of ALP and armed men,” a helpless Zekrullah said.

Ghazni police chief Aminullah Amarkhil admits there is truth in the allegations of extortion but claims the culpable are limited to among a few ALP and most of the pro-government armed militia. Like Taleban, they too collect oshr in some districts in the province, he says. Arresting the extortionists was a priority, Amarkhil told Killid in a phone interview.

“There will not be a government of Mullah Nasrudin any more in Ghazni,” he promised. “The local police and pro-government armed men will not be allowed to rob people and collect oshr. Some people in the affected areas have shown me the letters demanding that they pay tolls. I have told them the extortionists would soon be handed over to the law.”