Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet and A Barred Love

By Mohajir Times

According to Mohajir Times, citing IBNA News Agency, books can always introduce us to a new world and create deep feelings in our hearts through special narratives and anecdotes. One of these unique books and works can be a story full of tortuous troubles and adventures; “Mohammad Ali and Zakia,” young and pining-passionate Afghanistani lovers. This book was authored by Rod Nordland, a New York Times journalist, with interest, research, and field interviews about the forbidden love of two young and pining-passionate Afghanistan lovers. The lovers’ book, Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, translated by Asadullah Jafari (Pezhman) and with the official permission of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran, was published on January 23, 2024, by Kimyaei Andisheh Publishing House with 1000 paperback copies-octavo format in Tehran, Iran. With the intensity of art in the translation literature of contemporary Afghanistan stories, this work deals with the narratives and stories of two main characters named Mohammad Ali and Zakia in a real space, which brings the reader to another real world.

Farsi and English Cover View of Afghanistan's Lovers Book

The lovers’ book, Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, the story of forbidden love between Mohammad Ali and Zakia reaches many points and ups and downs, in addition to paying attention to the details of the beginning and end of pains, problems, and threats, to such judicial, criminal, social and cultural issues in a land called Afghanistan is also discussed. The author is the master of showing the discovery of the characters of the story, which include Mohammad Ali and Zakia. He has used the power of narration and the methods of good documentary and factual stories. It allows the reader to sympathize with the characters who are oppressed and culturally discriminated against and become a substitute for the pains and sufferings they have endured.

One of the prominent points of this book is the comprehensive and transparent narratives in the atmosphere of cultural realities and traditions of Afghanistan, which the author has written with realistic skills. By reading the pages of the lovers’ book Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, you will quickly fall into the romantic world full of events and challenges of Mohammad Ali and Zakia. No matter how saturated you are, this work will still fascinate you. Most of the bitter and fascinating events of the story and the author’s realistic narratives of the depth of the events of forbidden love in Afghanistan all make the reader find freshness and immerse them in the world of this book.

A Barred Love

The story starts from the place where Zakia and Mohammad Ali’s barred love is considered a trans-ethnic and trans-religious marriage in the mostly traditional society of Afghanistan. For this reason, it can be a kind of forbidden love in the geography of Afghanistan. This type of forbidden love can also bring risks and unfortunate events. Mohammad Ali is Hazara, a Shia, Zakia is a Tajik and a Sunni. From the book’s content, it can be inferred that Bamyani lovers have experienced hard and eventful days in the Hindu Kush mountains range in central Afghanistan. But Romeo and Juliet finally stay together and have passed all the bitter events and unfair challenges. Nevertheless, Father, brothers, even clan men, and relatives of Zakia followed this young couple to take revenge on the fugitive lovers and kill them.

Torture On Charges of Kidnapping

After the complaint of Zakia’s father and her first-degree relatives to the Afghan judicial and security authorities, Even the Afghan police and security sections went to catch Bamyani’s young lovers and arrest them. Although, the first category of a complaint filed by Zakia’s father and relatives to Afghanistan’s judicial and security authorities was the accusation of kidnapping against Mohammad Ali, stating that he kidnapped and killed Zakia. Therefore, once upon a time, Ali was arrested by the Kabul police, interrogated, and even tortured. Ali says in his interview with the book’s author in a part of the book Lovers: “The Kabul police arrested me on the charge of kidnapping. They tortured me and told me where I hid Zakia’s body. They even forbade me from water and bread to confess where I hid Zakia. I didn’t care about tortures and beatings. I just wanted Zakia not to be caught, and I didn’t want to betray her.”

Opponents and Proponents

The last arrest of Mohammad Ali by the Kabul police took place in the Pamir cinema area of Kabul city. This arrest made the case of accusations against Romeo and Juliet of Afghanistan more complicated, harder, and broader and dragged them to the Attorney General of Afghanistan. However, from the book’s content, it can be deduced that many supporters and opponents were involved in the story of Afghanistan lovers. But the supporters are more visible than the opponents, from the ordinary people of Afghanistan to the youth community, women, critics, government officials, and human rights institutions, including Sima Samar, the former head of the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, as well as Hamid Karzai, ex-president of Afghanistan. The margins and points of the whole story of Afghanistan Lovers cannot be included in one text and can be described in a wider way. But in the final half of the story, the kindness and efforts of supporters and defenders in defending the rights and saving Romeo and Juliet of Afghanistan should not be ignored and should be saluted to them, too.

And finally, the lovers were released from Kabul prison on June 11, 2014, by the judicial order of the Attorney General of Afghanistan. But this release was not the end of the challenges, sufferings, and threats facing Mohammad Ali and Zakia, and they had to go through many challenging paths. The order letter for the release of Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet is as follows from the text of the book:

Attorney General of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Release Order

The dossiers of these two people should be studied, verified, and retained after a complete investigation is done. Mohammad Ali, who had a Neka with Zakia, should be released from detention, and she should be handed to him. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs should assist them in forming a family life and finding a place to stay.

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