Iconic image

The image of Sharbat Bibi, the teenage Afghan girl with the piercing green eyes, whose photograph on the cover of National Geographic became one of the best-known icons in the world, may have mesmerised millions. But her fame, for many years as an unidentified Afghan refugee photographed at the Nasir Bagh camp near Peshawar, did nothing to improve the life she led or the suffering she still shares with millions of other Afghans who fled the Soviet invasion of their country after 1979. Sharbat Bibi, now a middle-aged woman, was arrested in Peshawar a few days ago on charges of document fraud. The case, brought about in 2014, involves her acquisition of a Pakistani CNIC along with similar cards obtained for two young men who were identified by Nadra officials as her sons. The case against her states her identification was obtained on the basis of false statements and the young men were not her sons at all. Sharbat Bibi now faces up to 14 years in jail and a hefty fine if she is found guilty of fraud.

Her case essentially highlights the situation of the 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees and at least a similar number of other non-registered Afghans who still remain in Pakistan. Some years ago, Sharbat Bibi, rediscovered 17 years after 1984 by the Nat Geo photographer who had first captured her haunting beauty, had returned to Afghanistan but was driven back across the border by the poverty she and her family faced. Now a married woman and reportedly the mother of three, Sharbat Gulla as she is known in Afghanistan, was reportedly ready to join the 350,000 Afghans who returned to their country from Pakistan last year. However, before she could depart, news of growing Isis influence in her home village which had driven out many who lived there, compelled her to stay back. Other Afghans too remain caught in identical dilemmas. Pakistani authorities have made it clear that they are no longer welcome guests and while a tripartite agreement between Islamabad, Kabul and the UNHCR permits them to remain in the country till the end of this year and possibly into June 2017, Afghans in Peshawar and other places have faced increased harassment. Many of them, like Sharbat Bibi, essentially have no place to call home. Others have been arrested too on accusations of petty theft or involvement in militancy. The Afghan embassy in Islamabad has complained they are unfairly targeted. The growing strains between the two neighbouring countries will only add to the suffering that has continued now for decades and does not seem to be ending.