Taliban cut off his finger for voting, he defied them again

The Taliban cut off Safiullah Safi’s right forefinger for voting in 2014. That did not stop the businessman from doing it again.

Safi’s act of defiance in Afghanistan’s 2019 presidential elections on Saturday sparked admiration after a photo of the 38-year old was posted on Twitter showing his missing right forefinger and the left one stained with indelible ink, indicating he had voted.

Braving the threat of militant attacks and delays at polling booths, Afghans cast their ballots in a major test of the Western-backed government’s ability to protect democracy.

The Taliban regime was overthrown by US-led forces in 2001. But the insurgency is now at its most powerful since its defeat, violently disrupting the nascent democracy’s elections and carrying out gruesome, often deadly retribution on those who take part.

During the 2014 presidential vote, Taliban fighters cut off the fingers of at least six voters.

“I know it was a painful experience, but it was only a finger,” Safi said by telephone. “When it comes to the future of my children and country I will not sit back even if they cut off my whole hand.” Safi described how in 2014 he had cast his vote and a day later travelled from the capital Kabul, where he lives, to the eastern city of Khost, his finger marked by the ink from voting.

“The Taliban took me out of the car and away from the road where they set up a court,” he said.

“They cut off my finger, asking why I had taken part in the election despite their warning... My family told me to not do it this time, but instead I took them all to cast our votes.” The show of resistance was warmly met by Afghans on social media, many of whom fear a return to Taliban rule and the end of democracy and hard-won freedoms.

“He voted in support of democracy and for saying no to the Taliban system,” said Twitter user Kabuli.

In the parts of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban, a larger territory now than at any point since 2001, voting is especially fraught with danger and turnout tends to be very low. The insurgents shut down many voting centres in a show of their authority.

A former World Bank economist, an ophthalmologist, a spy chief and a one-time warlord are among the 15 candidates vying for the presidency as Afghanistan heads to the polls this Saturday.

Eighteen candidates are set to appear on the official ballot, although three have since dropped out and officials say there is not enough time to update the ballot papers.

The run-up to the poll has been chaotic, with little in the way of campaigning and large swathes of the country unable to vote due to Taliban threats.

Here is a rundown of the main candidates: President Ashraf Ghani has variously been described as visionary, short-tempered, academic and overly demanding.

The former World Bank economist and finance minister has long nurtured dreams of rebuilding Afghanistan, and firmly believes he is one of the few people − perhaps the only one − capable of handling the responsibility.

Despite a lack of credible polling, he is widely perceived as the overall favourite, though he has made little headway against either the Taliban or deep-rooted government corruption.

And even though Ghani has made repeated overtures to the Taliban for peace, they continue to dismiss him as a US-controlled “puppet”, while the Americans sidelined him from now-suspended talks with the militants.

If re-elected, Ghani will be given a mandate in any future Afghan-led peace process with the Taliban − should they ever agree to such negotiations.

If talking fails, Ghani has vowed in the past to fight the militants “for generations” if necessary.

Former ophthalmologist and resistance fighter Abdullah Abdullah is again on the cusp of becoming the president of Afghanistan after being defeated in two previous elections, both tarnished by widespread allegations of fraud.

Abdullah, once an eye doctor in Kabul, was a member of Burhanuddin Rabbani’s government during Afghanistan’s 1992-1996 civil war, and made a name for himself abroad for his fluent English and refined manner.

Agencies