HYDERABAD: For many who had trooped into Afghanistan from Telangana to work in NATO security camps, the US withdrawal plan sealed their fate even before the Taliban took control. It was a swift end to their dream to provide a better life for families back home.
Ganesh Biragouni Goud, a specialist locksmith, returned home from Afghanistan on July 16 after serving in NATO camps for 10 years. Before that he had worked in Iraq for US forces’ for five years.
“My dream of providing good education to both my children and taking care of my family has been shattered,” said Ganesh from Mamidiapalli village in Armoor mandal of Nizamabad. In 2011, his leg was fractured in a Taliban attack. “A bomb had blown up before I could reach the bunker after the siren was sounded,” he recalled, adding that he had come back to India after the attack but went back the next year.
“All of us who were employed in the security forces camps in Afghanistan are now in a situation where we cannot take care of our families,” he said. Each worker used to earn between $500 and $1,000 per month, he said.
There are others like Ganesh who have returned in the last couple of months and their situation is the same. Most now plan to join hands and hold a meeting to bring their plight to government’s notice.
“I was trained in Dubai for five days before being taken to Afghanistan,” Sagar of Velpur mandal in Nizamabad district said. Sagar, who worked as a carpenter in the camps, estimated that around 600 people from Telangana alone worked with the security forces in Afghanistan and have returned now. They were all recruited through various contract agencies.
A few who were evacuated from the US embassy in Kabul to Qatar after the Taliban takeover have not yet returned.
“We will wait for two or three months for the situation to settle down and then take our issues to the government seeking help,” Goud said.
Ganesh Biragouni Goud, a specialist locksmith, returned home from Afghanistan on July 16 after serving in NATO camps for 10 years. Before that he had worked in Iraq for US forces’ for five years.
“My dream of providing good education to both my children and taking care of my family has been shattered,” said Ganesh from Mamidiapalli village in Armoor mandal of Nizamabad. In 2011, his leg was fractured in a Taliban attack. “A bomb had blown up before I could reach the bunker after the siren was sounded,” he recalled, adding that he had come back to India after the attack but went back the next year.
“All of us who were employed in the security forces camps in Afghanistan are now in a situation where we cannot take care of our families,” he said. Each worker used to earn between $500 and $1,000 per month, he said.
There are others like Ganesh who have returned in the last couple of months and their situation is the same. Most now plan to join hands and hold a meeting to bring their plight to government’s notice.
“I was trained in Dubai for five days before being taken to Afghanistan,” Sagar of Velpur mandal in Nizamabad district said. Sagar, who worked as a carpenter in the camps, estimated that around 600 people from Telangana alone worked with the security forces in Afghanistan and have returned now. They were all recruited through various contract agencies.
A few who were evacuated from the US embassy in Kabul to Qatar after the Taliban takeover have not yet returned.
“We will wait for two or three months for the situation to settle down and then take our issues to the government seeking help,” Goud said.
