cable- The Afghan proverb says, “He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything,†but 5 decades of wars and conflicts have accumulated dead and disabled people, and resulted in homelessness, displacement, migration, unemployment, poverty, and deprivation.
Deep wounds dominated the Afghan scene, which remained bleeding, from which only a rare few were spared. There is no Afghan family in which there is not a dead person, a disabled person, an orphan, or someone who has suffered the bitterness of displacement and migration. A condition that made more than 3.5 million Afghans fall into the clutches of drug Addiction, so they also lost their health and no longer had hope.
These millions have been preyed upon by the scourge of addiction Taliban movement Which returned to rule Afghanistan On August 18, 2021, it was a “hateful legacy†of the American occupation of the country, which lasted for 20 years, during which the number of Addicts doubled, men, women, and even boys and children, in various areas of the country, especially among Afghan refugees returning from Iran and Pakistan.
Scenes from the past
The tragic scenes of addiction, addicts, and their gathering places have become part of the past after the Taliban movement returned to power, but they are still present in the memory of the residents of the capital. Cable.
During a day tour in Kabul, Abdullah, my Afghan companion, said, pointing to the “Pul-e-Sukhta†Bridge, or the Burnt Bridge, west of the capital, “This bridge was one of the dens of drug addicts who used to gather underneath it in the hundreds, sitting in a squatting position, staring at piles of garbage, syringes, and excrement.â€
The gathering places for addicts have extended to Shahr Naw Pak Park, one of the largest and most famous parks in the Afghan capital, says Abdullah, to the point that ordinary people cannot easily visit this park, even during the day.
Driver Amir Khan picks up the story, saying that fear gripped pedestrians and even drivers as they passed near places of drug use for fear of being attacked by addicts who used to steal and rob the city’s main roads to get money to buy the narcotic substances they were addicted to.
He continued, saying that the addicts were blocking people's paths in the streets, threatening them with knives, taking their money by force, attacking passers-by, especially women and girls, in broad daylight and seizing jewelry, mobile phones, or other valuables. With the increase in the number of drug addicts, thefts and even home burglaries have increased, so no one is safe leaving the door of his house open.
Scenes of victims of addiction remained familiar to residents of the capital, Kabul, who were accustomed to seeing the manifestations of pain, suffering, poverty, homelessness, and destitution resulting from addiction on the city’s sidewalks, where drug overdoses and cold kill about 150 people every month, that is, an average of 5 deaths per day. Sometimes the sight of the bodies of those who have taken an overdose is not a strange sight.
These scenes no longer have any effect, as the residents of the Afghan capital we met agreed upon, and this was confirmed by wandering at different hours during the day and night in the streets of the capital. During the nearly two weeks I spent there, I did not notice any of these scenes, whether under the “Burned Bridge†or the “Burnt Bridge.†“Death†or in other gardens, or even between the banks of the Kabul River, which is suffering from drought and where some addicts have made their den.
Rehabilitation lap
On the order of Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the “Islamic Emirateâ€, a committee was established to bring together addicts, with the Ministries of Interior, Public Health, Labor and Social Affairs as members.
Despite the scarcity of capabilities, the Taliban-led Afghan government devotes its efforts to treating and rehabilitating drug addicts, and has established dozens of centers for this purpose in various states of the country, the largest of which was a NATO military base located about 20 km from the heart of the capital, which was transformed two years ago into a Rehabilitation center for thousands of addicts. The government allocated 75 billion Afghanis – the name of the local currency – (about one billion dollars) to him to carry out this role and provide treatment and rehabilitation supplies.
Al Jazeera Net visited the former military base, which was transformed into a huge rehabilitation center for thousands of addicts. On it was written in Persian: “Aghosh d Maaddinud Hamai Otdawi 5000 Bastriz Center,†which in Arabic means “Hudna Center for Treating and Supporting Addicts with a Capacity of 5,000 Beds.â€
Our arrival at this huge center coincided with lunch time, and anyone who lives with Afghans knows very well that they have two appointments that they never miss: prayer time and meal time, especially lunch, as we saw queues of those receiving treatment and rehabilitation moving calmly and orderly on their way to the center’s restaurant.
I waited until a number of them had finished eating their meal to meet him. While waiting, I spoke to Abdul Qayyum, one of the supervisors of receiving addicts in the rehabilitation programs at the center, asking about the number of those undergoing rehabilitation that the center currently includes. He said, “We gathered 3,000 addicts from various states of the country, especially Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat.†“.
Abdul Qayyum notes that among those at the center, “there were those who came voluntarily, there were those who were brought by their family, and there were those who were brought by the police because they caused problems, and the last batch that the center received was 280 addicts.â€
When asked about the average age of those in the center who are receiving treatment and rehabilitation, he said that their ages ranged between 14 and 80 years.
Qualification
We moved with Abdul Qayyum to the training workshops attached to the center, where the visitor does not feel that those working on sewing machines, making shoes, repairing electrical appliances, or preparing bread were once addicted until after asking them.
Abdul Qayyum says that efforts are being made to make the work environment suitable for these people after they leave the center to provide them with the tools of the craft in which they were trained to provide them with a means of living that preserves their dignity.
We met Aziz Rahman Faqiri (65 years old) from Kapisa province, who said that he had been a refugee in Iran for 16 years, and there – according to him – he fell prey to addiction, and upon his return and after the Taliban movement came to power, he came to the center for treatment and rehabilitation.
He continues, saying that he gradually recovered at the center; “Here we pray in a group, attend religious lessons, and exercise in an environment that makes us forget the scourge of addiction and hate us for it.â€
As for Muhammad Waseem (33 years old), who used to work as a teacher, he also tells the story of how he fell prey to addiction, which he freed himself from three months after entering the center – according to him – during which he regained what he had memorized of the Holy Qur’an and increased his memorization until he became a teacher at the center who has been teaching the Qur’an for more than a year. .
The case of former teacher Faizullah Fayyad (63 years old) is not much different from the cases of Waseem and Aziz. He was addicted to “the antidote†(hashish) during his period of asylum in Pakistan – according to him – until he returned to his country about two years ago and heard about the center through his family, so he rushed to attend. Voluntarily, out of his desire to receive treatment and rehabilitation.
It was noticeable while looking at the faces of those in one of the center’s halls that there were two young men whom we approached to find out their story, but they spoke briefly. Nasrallah (15 years old) said that he was from the state of Lugar and that bad friends had dragged him into addiction to one of the narcotic substances until the police found him in a state of drug abuse. One of the weddings, she brought him to the center for treatment, and she also brought the boy Nour Allah Abdullah (19 years old) from Ghazni Province under similar circumstances.
The Qur’an is a cure
In a spacious hall at the center, dozens of people receiving training sat on the floor in parallel rows, with copies of the Holy Qur’an in front of them, reciting the Holy Qur’an in a group, chanting behind the teacher in an atmosphere of reverence.
Abdul Rashid, one of the Qur’an teachers at the center, cites the Qur’anic verse, “And We send down from the Qur’an what is a healing and a mercy for the believers†(Surat Al-Isra / Verse 82), in confirmation of the importance and feasibility of treatment with the Qur’an, especially in the Muslim community, noting that the impact of the section on comprehensive recitation circles for the training recipient is “ “Very significant, as it has contributed to promoting recovery and abandoning addiction.â€
Those we met at the center unanimously praised the benefit of the treatment and rehabilitation they received at the center, as they regained their health, dissipated despair in their souls, and renewed their hope. After they survived the scourge of addiction, they were now qualified to return to the embrace of their families and live among their community, stressing that “life without drugs is another enjoyable life.â€
The Taliban government, which has completely eliminated opium (poppy) cultivation – according to the testimony of relevant international organizations – aspires to bring the country to a “zero addiction stage†and has achieved “zero cultivationâ€, after Afghanistan was stigmatized as the largest producer of opium in the world and the largest country with addicts in the world. the world. Perhaps its simplest demand is reconsideration In the sanctions imposed on it and the resulting cutting off of international funding.
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