Warda first visited the graves of Shireen and Bekobod. As dusk approached, she suddenly felt exhausted when she exited the car. She could hardly pull her legs as she cautiously walked through the overgrown grass to a quiet spot in the cemetery. Two modest tombstones stood side by side. Tahir held her hand to steady her as she sat between the two graves and placed her face on Shireen’s grave. The chauffeur and the guards turned around and looked the other way while Warda caressed the grass on the grave.
“You saved him... you saved my father,” Warda whispered.
She took a deep breath as if gaining energy from their closeness. She was overwhelmed by a sense of deep appreciation and the anguish of their loss in those moments. Their courage and dedication saved her father’s life, and she would never be able to pay it back. “Every day, I’ve had to deal with this debt,” she murmured.
As Warda sat up and looked down at Bekobod’s grave, she felt tears running down her cheeks. She dried her eyes and used her damp hands to dust off his gravestone. I pray Allah grants you the finest reward for being my favourite tutor. One day, I hope to embrace you two as you were.
She rose to her feet, took a few steps back, and recited Holy Quranic verses to bring her fallen warriors redemption.
The next day, she went to her school, which was shut down as the Taliban had restricted women’s access to health care, education, and jobs.
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“There seems to be a complete halt to time here,” Warda said in a quivering voice as she made her way into the cellar of the Literary Club building.
“The tension and suspense persist with me until today. But then, we believed in our cause so much and at such a tender age.”
“Because of your bravery and resolve, your country’s fate has been altered and will be remembered for ages. What you did is notable.” Tahir said quietly, although he was fully aware, he would never be able to understand the horrors that those teenage girls and their educators had to endure for the cause of the country’s liberation.
Despite his desire to offer his wife emotional support by holding her hand, Tahir could not dare do so in the presence of the Taliban security personnel. The guards were, however, extraordinarily courteous and respectful to Warda that day, and it appeared that they had somehow picked up the truth about Shireen’s revolutionary group.
Weeks came and went by, and it took two months before Warda finally met with the women the Taliban had held on the day of their last court appearance. Without knowing how their case would turn out, they celebrated their meeting joyfully, and having Warda there gave them hope that others were concerned for them. Mr Hadayat wept as he cradled Warda’s head and kissed her forehead.
Charges against Mr Hadayat were dismissed on medical grounds and he was allowed to go back to Europe for his ongoing treatment. A judge addressed Tahir as they left the courtroom: “The top spokesman of the Amir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, who holds a ministerial portfolio, has invited you and your wife to dinner at his house in the evening.”