November 17, 2001	Saturday	Ramazan 1, 1422

KABUL, Nov 16: Still reeling from the dramatic events of the past week, the people of Afganistan celebrated the beginning of Ramazan on Friday.

The advent of Ramazan this year coincided with an uneasy calm in Kabul after seven days that redrew Afghanistan’s political map.

For some, the spirit of the month had already been sullied beyond redemption.

“This is not a Ramazan I want to remember, with my country in pieces and Islamic brothers fighting against each other instead of fasting side by side,” Akhmad Jabar, a religious scholar, said.

Following the fall of the Afghan capital three days ago to Northern Alliance forces, fighting still raged around Kunduz and Kandahar.

In those areas abandoned by the Taliban, divisions have already begun to show.

Warlords from the Pakhtoon community have secured provinces to the south and east of the city and warned the multi-ethnic Northern Alliance to keep its distance.

But despite the troubles facing the country, pre-Ramazan shopping saw crowds thronging Kabul’s central bazaar where the talk a week ago had been whether or not the US bombing campaign would let up for Ramadan.

“What a difference a week makes!” said Abdul Rashid, a 35-year-old shoeseller. “So much has happened in such a short space of time that you almost have to stop to catch your breath.”

Younis Khan, an aid worker, said the holiest month in the Muslim calendar should be used to focus Afghan attention on the country’s humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by the US-led military campaign’s disruption of international relief programmes.

Rashila Kurshid, a mother of two, said the coming Ramazan would have a special meaning for her.

“For Afghan women this week has already been all about a feeling of renewal, of turning a new page, and that is what Ramazan means,” said Kurshid who, despite the ousting of the Taliban, was still dressed in Burqa.

Ahmed Sardar, a 29-year-old lawyer, said it was fitting that the Taliban had been “purged” in the week Ramazan began.

“Ramazan is a very special month in which Muslims don’t eat from sunrise to sunset, but only pray and think about God as a way of purging their souls,” he said.—AFP