For peace, Bibi to forgive blood of 3 spouses

ASADABAD (Pajhwok): Taj Bibi, a resident of eastern Kunar province, says if the Taliban embrace peace, she is ready to forgive them for killing her three husbands.

Her first husband, a resident of Marawra district serving in the Afghan National Army (ANA), was killed in an insursurgent attack. She also lost her second and third husbands to Taliban attacks. But she tied the knot with a brother-in-law.

Under local tradition, Taj Bibi has married the three brothers-in-law of her first spouse. After the death of her first husband, she tied the knot with his second brother. Later, she married her third and then fourth brother.

Her life has become miserable because of the death and destruction caused by war. She could no longer afford the continuation of conflict, asking militants to stop widowing her sisters and orphaning her brothers and sons.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, Bibi said: “If the Taliban stop fighting and make peace, I will forgive the blood of my three husbands, who have been killed by the rebels.”

Bibi married her first husband Fateh-Ur-Rehman in line with her parents’ wish. While serving in ANA ranks, he was killed in a Taliban attack in 2011 and left behind a one-year-old son.

She said after the death of her first husband, she married his brother-in-law Rahimullah, who was also a Special Forces’ member and was killed by the Taliban in 2013 in defence of his homeland.

She added: “I have two daughters from my second husband. Then I got married to another brother-in-law named Mohibullah. He was also martyred in a clash with the Taliban in 2017, leaving behind two daughters.

To keep her five children from becoming shelterless and help her parents-in-law overcome the loss of their sons, she had to marry her fourth brother-in-law — named Aminullah.

Taj Bibi fears her fourth husband, also an army soldier, could also fall victim to the ongoing war. “I have a 10-year-old son. If Allah gives him life and he grows into a young man, I will send him to the ANA to defend his homeland like his fathers did. This is our homeland and we have a responsibility to defend it.”

Taj Bibi also has a 5^th brother-in-law who has been blinded by a bomb blast. He has since been sitting at home.

She said: “We have rendered greater sacrifices than anyone else for the protection of our motherland. Three of my husbands have become martyrs and one of my brothers-in-law, also a soldier, has lost his eyesight in a blast. The treatment of one of his eye is possible but we are very helpless and poor. We have borrowed too much for the treatment of my blind brother-in-law.”

Her blind brother-in-law has been paid for 18 months by the government, but it has been two years now that his salary has been withheld. One of his eyes can be treated if the government pays his salary.

She grumbled, despite the sacrifices rendered by her family, the government did not pay any attention to their plight. Rights of the martyrs only have been granted.

Bibi urged the government to pave the way for the education of her orphaned children. Due to threats and fears from Taliban, she has fled the Bachi of Marawra district to the Hesara village of this district. She has been living there in a tottering house.

She is optimistic about the ongoing peace talks: “God bring this dialogue to success. How long war will continue? How long children will get orphaned?”

Besides her in-laws, she said, members of her father’s family also serve in the army. Despite threats from the Taliban, they have no intention to quit the army and are willing to sacrifice for stabilising their country.

sa/mud

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