Interview with Sayid Rakhmatullah Hashimi
Representative of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban)
Washington, D.C., 21 March 2001

by Svante Cornell

Afghanistan is often in the news, be it for war, draught, terrorism, or lately the destruction of the Buddha statues of Bamiyan. The Taliban movement rules 95% of the country and have attracted an international outcry for their human rights record, their treatment of women and minorities, and for hosting alleged terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden. The Taliban have become a monster without a face in the international media, and is generally perceived as an ill-defined force of darkness aiming to drag large parts of the world into the middle ages. They are rarely given an opportunity to explain and defend their views and their actions. And, it should be noted, when given the opportunity, they have often neglected to make use of it. Sayid Rakhmatullah Hashimi, a representative of the Taliban regime on a trip to the United States, is trying to change this.

Rakhmatullah is a short, bearded man with penetrating eyes, wearing a silk turban. He has been in the US for over three weeks. His trip was initially intended to be a mission to have the sanctions on his country lifted. However, this objective was partially overshadowed by the destruction of the 1,500 year old Buddha statues of Bamiyan that the Taliban regime ordered, and then carried out in spite of an international outcry, including from Islamic countries. Mr. Rakhmatullah’s visit included several speaking events and meetings with U.S. officials. After a lengthy presentation at the Central Asia & Caucasus institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, an opportunity is given for an interview.

The emissary speaks surprisingly good English. He is only 24 years old, but despite his youth, he is an influential advisor to the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Omar. ‘I was here in the US when those statues were destroyed’, says Rakhmatullah, somewhat defensively, when asked the presently hottest question related to Afghanistan. ‘I called Qandahar, and asked a religious cleric, why are you destroying these statues? He told me that a French and Greek delegation with UNESCO came to Afghanistan and said that they were going to repair these statues, to spend money on them. The council of scholars had asked not to spend money on the statues when children are dying of malnutrition. 700 children died a month ago of malnutrition caused by economic sanctions of the UN. This eventually frustrated everybody, and it was decided that the statues will be destroyed because they are harmful for us. I asked him, why is it harmful to us, and he answered that if money is spent on statues when our children are dying next door, then they are harmful.’ Rakhmatullah shrugs his shoulders, and explains: ‘This is the reality of war. If you criticize somebody, if you alienate and ostracize somebody, if you sanction them and if you send cruise missiles, this is the outcome. Whether or not you like it, this is the reality.’

After a pause, he continues. ‘What I don’t understand is why you pay such importance to statues. Whether what we did was right or wrong. You people in the west destroy our air, our water. Aren’t they, too, our common heritage?’

He becomes silent for a moment, looks out the window at the Washington monument in the skyline, and then says: ‘We are criticized for so many things. As if all the problems in Afghanistan were our creation. We never said we were perfect. But no one appreciates or acknowledges our achievements. We have reunited Afghanistan, which was divided into five zones ruled by warlords. We have established some form of law and order. We have disarmed the people, without spending a penny, whereas the UN was planning to repurchase arms from the Afghan people for billions of dollars. And we have a great international achievement, that no so-called civilized government has ever managed. In one year, we eradicated opium production which produced 75% of the world’s opium. Without asking for a penny from the world. Although the US is spending $1,3 billion to eradicate opium production in Colombia, which produces 10% of the world’s opium. With no success. We are accused of violating human rights. We are not perfect, but we have given the people the most fundamental right, the right to life. Before us, women were raped, boys were raped, robberies happened every day. Every child had a gun and could kill anyone. Now crime is practically absent. The world thinks the problems of Afghanistan were created by us, but it is the opposite. Whatever our shortcomings, it is much better now than it was before.’

Rakhmatullah looks up, and tells me: ‘People here see Afghanistan from an American perspective. When I first came here and saw an almost topless woman on an advertisement for a candy, I was shocked. For us, that is a violation of human rights, because she was used as an object of decoration for a single candy. And if you got to Afghanistan you will see things that you will not like or understand. We have to learn to respect each other’s values and not impose your values on the world.’

When I ask him of the UN sanctions, the young emissary’s eyes start glowing. ‘Taliban-specific? Not economic sanctions, they tell me. Ridiculous! If our ministers are not allowed to travel abroad, and if all air traffic to and from Afghanistan is prohibited, how are we to sign economic deals? How can we import medicine? It is the people that suffers. People tell me we should be grateful for the aid that is given. But we are losing millions of dollars every month because of sanctions. It is like if I snatch 100 dollars from you today, and give you a dollar tomorrow, and ask you to thank me.’

As the conversation turns to the subject of Osama Bin Laden, Rakhmatullah receives new energy. ‘When the Americans sent those cruise missiles, three days after their president admitted to having an affair with another woman, we went to Islamabad. We asked their ambassador there, why did you make that man into a hero? He was nothing before your missiles. But since you tried to kill a man without giving him a fair trial, you made him into a hero.’ Rakhmatullah asks me, ‘do you know that seven thousand children have been named after him in the last year only in Pakistan? This created problems for us. 19 innocent Afghans were killed by American missiles. Of course, we admit that the bombings of embassies in Africa were terrorist acts. But what about our innocent Afghans? What should we tell our people? What is the difference, I ask you, between these acts? But we were very polite, we wanted to solve the problem. We kept him under arrest for 45 days and asked the United States to give us proof of this man’s guilt. We would put him on trial, and if found guilty of killing civilians, he would receive a capital punishment. The US claimed our judicial system was unacceptable for them. We were still polite, and proposed to have Islamic clerics from three countries examine the issue and decide on his future. That was rejected too. We have given the US three proposals, and all of them were rejected. The impression in Afghanistan today, I must tell you, is that the United States maybe doesn’t want to solve the problem at all. Maybe too many people are having as their only job to chase Bin Laden. If the issue would be solved, they would lose their jobs. Do you remember what Gorbachev said in 1991? He said that he would do the worst thing to the United States. People thought he would send nuclear missiles. But he said, I will remove their enemy’. And many people lost their jobs. This makes us think that the US needs a bogeyman, and Bin Laden is a perfect bogeyman.’

Before parting, I ask Rakhmatullah what experiences he will bring back from the United States. “Here, people don’t judge me beforehand’, he answers. ‘Not like in Europe. People listen to me here. You give them logic, and they listen. Also, I have understood the importance of public relations. We never cared about public relations. We thought we are right, and we don’t need to tell anybody we are right. For us, public relations is nothing. But here, public relations is everything. So whether we like it or not, we need to have public relations.

As we bid farewell and I escort him down to the basement to his car to avoid the few dozen protesters outside the main entrance, Rakhmatullah gives me his phone number and tells me with a smile, 'so I will see you in Qandahar?' 'Inshallah', I answer, if God wishes. 'Inshallah', he answers, 'Inshallah'.