"Where Will We Go? This Is Our Motherland": Afghans To Indians Who Returned On Kabul-Delhi Flight

Afghan members of Parliament who returned included Sayed Hassan Paktiawal and Abdul Qader Zazai.

A total of 129 passengers who were onboard the Kabul-Delhi Air India flight arrived on Sunday evening. The flight took off from Kabul around the same time that the Taliban terrorists entered Afghanistan's capital. The passengers included Indian citizens, Afghanistan citizens and members of the Afghanistan parliament. One of the returnees, Abhishek said, "The locals are very scared about their future. When we were coming back to India they said to us, "You are going. Where will we go? This is our motherland." Abhishek said that he had gone from Delhi to Kabul with a few colleagues as part of his work in a solar panel company. There were only 20 passengers on his Delhi-Kabul flight a week ago but when he returned on Sunday, the flight was full. He added, "There was heavy traffic on the way to the airport. I walked for 2.5 km to reach the airport. I did not see any Taliban men but we did hear at the airport that the Taliban was capturing everything. I am glad I came back safely." Sohini Sarkar, another Indian who returned on the flight said, "People were rushing to the airport and all flights were sold out. My family members live in the USA and India and they were very concerned about my safety." Ms Sarkar had been living in Kabul for the last few months as she works in an NGO which is associated with USAID (The United States Agency for International Development). She said, "Women in Afghanistan were very concerned." "Because in the last few years they have made a lot of progress in freedom, education and their way of living. I don't know what will happen in the days to come. Very few people might be able to get out."