After Taliban takeover, Afghan refugees in India doubt they will ever be able to return home

Some of the refugees who fled Afghanistan expecting to return someday have had their hopes dashed, and believe their government and the US ‘failed’ them

Life in India is tough, with many struggling to register as refugees because of a years-long backlog of applications

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Refugee and former Afghan policewoman Khatera Hashmi sits inside a rented flat in New Delhi. The Taliban shot her and gouged out her eyes, resulting in her fleeing to India last year. Photo: AP

Published: 6:00pm, 23 Aug 2021Updated: 6:06pm, 23 Aug 2021

Khatera Hashmi’s memory of the assassination attempt on her life is hazy.

The former Afghan policewoman was shot multiple times on her way home from work last October in the capital of Ghazni province, south of Kabul.

As she slumped over, one of the attackers grabbed her by the hair, pulled a knife and gouged out her eyes.

Five months pregnant at the time, Hashmi and her unborn child survived the gruesome attack, which was carried out by Taliban forces on her father’s request.

Khatera’s father had vehemently opposed her decision to join the police force, and although she did not elaborate on her father’s involvement, she said the police had arrested and imprisoned him.

After recovering from her wounds, she and her husband fled to India, leaving two children in the care of her mother-in-law. Her third child, a daughter, was born a few months after their arrival in India.

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