Zarifa Ghafari arrives hurriedly and out of breath on the Kabul resort the place she has requested for the interview to happen. The director of a Netflix documentary about her, In Her Arms, follows behind. To her left is the author who will assist her to show her experiences into an autobiography, Zarifa: A Girl’s Battle in a Man’s World. Now, each tasks have already been introduced, as a result of the interview happened final March, somewhat over six months after the Taliban regained management of Afghanistan.

It’s the first time that Ghafari, 30, one of many first feminine mayors in Afghanistan, has returned to her nation following the traumatic occasions of the summer time of 2021, when the Taliban launched their offensive, inflicting tens of hundreds to flee. Ghafari and her household managed to flee through Turkey to Germany. Her return, removed from being considered simply as an achievement, has sparked controversy on social media. Some crucial commentators accuse her of downplaying the seriousness of the state of affairs in Afghanistan by deciding to return, and even of whitewashing the Taliban.

She denies these claims. Over the previous few years, Ghafari’s work has not been smiled upon by the fundamentalists. She served as mayor in Maidan Shahr, a small metropolis round 30 miles to the southwest of Kabul and capital of the Maidan Wardak province. It was 2018 and he or she was 26 years outdated. Regardless of the numerous obstacles positioned in her means, together with protests and loss of life threats, she remained within the submit till she was promoted, a number of months earlier than the Taliban took Kabul, to a place within the Afghan Protection Ministry.

Her father, a veteran particular forces commander beneath the earlier authorities, was assassinated in 2020. The Taliban had been extensively suspected of involvement. Regardless of threats and harassment, Ghafari says she stays dedicated to her nation and accepts the dangers. As such, she needs to separate her time between Europe, the place her household nonetheless dwell, and Afghanistan, the place the day earlier than the interview she inaugurated a donor-funded heart the place ladies obtain free training and workshops in handicrafts and tailoring, amongst different actions. Her long-term objective is for these facilities to be arrange in all of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

Query. How did you begin out in politics and handle to develop into a mayor in a rustic like Afghanistan?

Reply. I at all times needed to work with, amongst and for individuals. Beginning out in governmental work and taking up obligations was not an try to enter into politics. However ever since I used to be a baby, I needed to do one thing essential. That’s why I joined the Afghan Youth Parliament after gaining a Grasp’s diploma in Economics in India. I arrange a radio station with the one that is now my life accomplice and later began a company, and from there I utilized to affix a program to develop into a mayor.

Q. How do you keep in mind your time in workplace?

A. It was actually unimaginable. In three years, I grew at a tempo that helped me not solely to develop my profession, but additionally to find out about my very own society, my nation and what my individuals needed. I’ve at all times needed to take action many issues for different locations, though I wasn’t capable of as a result of I used to be caught throughout the context of town. After I left my submit, 4 months earlier than the autumn of Kabul, I hoped that one other girl would succeed me.

Q. Being a feminine mayor of a conservative metropolis should have been very difficult.

A. After I was mayor, any little downside throughout the metropolis grew to become an enormous catastrophe for everyone, and I used to be subjected to numerous assaults, on social media and at occasions… “The mayor doesn’t work; she isn’t as much as the job.” Now the whole lot is a large catastrophe and no person is saying something. That leads me to consider that I used to be criticized just because I used to be a girl.

Q. You additionally confronted threats from the Taliban.

A. Sure, I’ve been attacked 3 times and my father was assassinated – by the Taliban, in keeping with data we acquired from the federal government on the time. I needed to face numerous issues because the mayor of a really conservative Afghan metropolis. Firstly, to foster belief between the individuals and myself. Secondly, coping with the extremist ideologies of those that, when speaking to ladies, had been solely fascinated by cooking and infants. Talking to them and giving them orders was extraordinarily problematic. The insecurity attributable to the Taliban, having a mafia inside town, with a bunch of very corrupt native governors throughout the workplace, gave me numerous complications.

Q. The largest of these got here in August, 2021. What was your expertise of the autumn of Kabul?

A. On 15 August at 11.30am I used to be nonetheless in my workplace, right here in Kabul, on the Protection Ministry. I couldn’t consider what was occurring. I lastly got here to phrases with it in the course of the evening, when Al Jazeera broadcast dwell footage from contained in the presidential palace. It wasn’t due to the change of presidency, as a result of it doesn’t matter to me who’s the king or what authorities is in place. It was a matter of my rights, my work, my struggles. I noticed an enormous change coming, that will have an effect on my life and the lifetime of my father. My sisters wouldn’t be capable of get pleasure from a free life, I wouldn’t be capable of stroll the streets like a standard citizen. That was the second after I broke down and cried. I didn’t sleep in any respect that evening.

Q. You determined to pack up and run.

A. I left the nation to supply my household with a protected haven. We managed to get to the airport with assist from the Turkish Embassy. It was tough, I wore a black hijab to cover my face. From there we went to Islamabad and from there to Turkey. I arrived in Germany on August 22 with my entire household. After the loss of life of my father, I used to be answerable for them as I’m the eldest. My mom was three years outdated when she misplaced her father, and he or she had simply misplaced her husband. I didn’t need them to pay for my selections.

Q. You’re again in Afghanistan now for the primary time because the Taliban regained energy. What are your emotions?

A. I admit there are numerous issues. However different issues lend you the energy of self-resilience. I’ve seen women strolling by means of the door of Kabul College and that has given me an enormous shot of power, it has been the very best medication for all this ache. On the identical time, I’ve seen ladies begging for meals on the road. If they might go to an workplace, any kind of workplace, and work, perhaps they might have sufficient to eat, at the least as soon as a day.

I’ve seen ladies begging for meals on the road. If they might work perhaps they might have sufficient to eat

Q. Highschool college students haven’t been capable of resume courses. Might that additionally occur on the universities?

A. We’ll see what occurs. For now, this imaginative and prescient of ladies going to college has given me power to withstand. Folks – particularly outdoors of Afghanistan – speak of armed resistance, of battle… however I feel resistance by means of training works higher. Typically you don’t must die carrying a gun: you merely prepare and go away the home. Like me, who has risked the whole lot. It’s not simple. I got here again, I’m right here and to date, nothing has occurred to me. However in fact, I see a lot of issues and difficulties, and I’m going to speak about them. Like yesterday: in an interview on a nationwide tv channel, I used to be requested about ladies’s rights. I urged the Taliban leaders to launch all feminine prisoners. Nobody dares to try this. It doesn’t hassle me; I’m ready to threat the whole lot as a result of I consider I’m doing the appropriate factor. That’s how we should resist.

Q. Did it’s a must to come to some settlement to ensure your security as a way to return to Afghanistan?

A. I don’t want to come back to agreements with anyone to return to my own residence. I’ve already advised everyone, in all the interviews I’ve completed since I’ve been right here, that if anybody is ready to show that I’ve made some form of association with the Taliban, I’m able to pay no matter they need. However I don’t want to try this: that is my nation. In fact, the Taliban know that I’m right here; I went by means of immigration management at Kabul Airport after I arrived.

Q. There was some criticism on social media about your return to Afghanistan.

A. There are numerous rumors surrounding me, particularly from those that usually are not in Afghanistan. Folks suppose I earn some huge cash from donations and that’s why I’ve come again, perhaps to provide it to the Taliban. However numerous ladies consider in what I’m doing. What I’ve been saying over the previous few days in Afghanistan is similar factor I’ve been saying since I left the nation, earlier than the earlier authorities fell.

Q. Entry to EL PAÍS is blocked in Afghanistan due to worldwide sanctions towards the Taliban. Is there a message you’d wish to ship to the worldwide group, international governments or NGOs?

A. I’d just like the worldwide group to concentrate. I share the ache of the Ukrainian individuals; I really feel damage for Ukraine and its individuals. However on the identical time, the identical disaster is going down in my nation. We’d like support to be delivered to individuals on the bottom, particularly to these ladies who don’t have anybody to look out for them.