The Taliban beat up a landlord the other day for housing a gay man, who helplessly recorded the assault on his phone from his rooftop hideout.
Genocide against the gay community is rampant in Afghanistan, author-activist Nemat Sadat said during an online interaction on Thursday.
Speaking to Bappaditya Mukherjee of Prantakatha, a city-based rights organisation, the Afghan-origin author of the critically-acclaimed The Carpet Weaver, said the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was now the most vulnerable since the Taliban took over.
“Afghanistan is the most dangerous country to be in at present,” said the author, speaking from his home in the US. “The Taliban are going door to door, asking families to hand over their queer relatives. The families are threatened with dire consequences if they refuse,” said Sadat.
“Rooftops, basements and closets — the queer community is hiding in different places to survive in Afghanistan. Few people want to give them shelter for fear of repercussions,” he said. “The Taliban have a strong biometric system. Nobody can leave the country without their knowledge. Therefore, the queer can only run from one province to another and from one district to the other.”
More than 400 LGBT people are already on Sadat’s list. “I have been trying to get them out of that country. Those who have already left had, more or less, diplomatic ties in the family,” he said.
Sadat, whose book traces the love story between two young boys, said gay rights was non-existent in Afghanistan even before the Taliban took over. Gays have always been terrible victims of abuse, he said, adding how for the past 20 years, they had silently made their mark in civil society.
“The queer community in Afghanistan had been fighting an ideological war for over two decades. They were working as make-up artists, wedding dancers, taking part in fashion shows and concerts. They often lived in clusters. Programmes on gender rights, sometimes, had them talking about their rights as well. Some men even dared to live with their same-sex partners, slowly ushering in change. Now, many of them are beheaded,” said Sadat.
According to him, the Taliban is using phone locations to track down the celebrity queer community members. “I have asked many to change their SIM cards,” the author said.
Sadat had lived in Afghanistan for less than two years. “My book was meant to empower the world about our country. I don’t have any relatives left there. But I am a gay ex-Muslim, who is trying to save others like myself from getting persecuted,” he said.
He has approached France, the Netherlands and many other countries to give the queer community members asylum. “India has helped the Hindus and the Sikhs from Afghanistan, but there are many more left. It needs to open its doors for the gay community as well,” he said.