Ghag غږ" (An old Afghan tradition but not in Yousafzai

Ghag غږ" (An old Afghan tradition but not in Yousafzai, not sure about other Pashtun tribes in KP).

By Shah Jehan Khan

Ghag غږ...All I could recollect, I was in my village school (60s-70s), seasonal Afghans manual laborers would cross Pak-Afghan border without any passport and visa, they never heard of things like passport/visa, we used to call them ‘Kabulyan’ in fact none of them came from Kabul but other parts of Afghanistan. 

They would stay with us in our hujras (Swabi Villages) as long as they wanted to, simple food and stay was free. One of those Afghans was Abdur Rehman in his 50s, used to sharpen kitchen knives with his pedal wheel for years, never went back to Afghanistan. 

I was young but I could feel he is not like others, every evening on his return from work we..the young boys and girls would rush to him, he always had something for us. On one cold winter night sitting around the fire my uncle asked him.. ‘Rehman do you have any relative in Kabul (Afghanistan)?. Short answer as usual.. ‘Shtha’ (I have)’..His eyes were focused on fire,.after a long pause he looked at my uncle.. ‘I know your next question would be.. why I left Afghanistan?’ he continued.. ‘You asked me this question many times, well, here is the answer..I was in my mid 20s I fell in love with a girl of the same village, I didn’t have the courage to mention it to my parents..you know Pashtun culture but I did, My parents didn’t say anything..

I knew the status difference, the girl’s family was well off. One late night my father called me to his room..I could see his head down looking at his shoes, my mother was sitting in one corner.. honestly, I could hear my heart beats, he looked at me.. ‘Rehman.. they refused’. I guess my mother felt my pain more the I did.. and I felt my father’s pain more than he did. My dog sitting beside me was looking at our faces..sensed the gloom and left. I left the room reached for my father’s gun, went out..in front of the girl’s door I fired two shots in the air.. that was Ghag غږ , mean.. a message to the village..

 ‘SHE IS MINE’. My uncle asked.. ‘Just like that..so easy?’. Rehman still looking at burning wood.. ‘Not really, ‘Ghag’ also mean giving a blank check to the girl’s family, now they were free to demand anything in return, gold, money, land, but they didn’t. Instead the girl’s brother came and fired two shots in the air in front of our door..a Ghag for my sister’. 

They were rich, the next day they came for my sister, she got married to the girl’s brother, we asked for very little with the hope that they will do the same but they didn’t, instead they demanded beyond our imaginations, My father was very sad and mad, didn’t talk to me for days, one day he yelled at me..”How looong that girl will wait for you, do you know their demand???. I got up and said.. ‘Baba if I am a man I will earn that..whenever’, the same day I left Afghanistan, don’t ask me the painful details what I went through as a young man, after I broke my one leg I could do only what I am doing now..30 years of my life gone”

He stopped..a long pause..we waited..but.. we could hear only the cracking sound of burning wood..no one among us had the courage to ask him about the girl he loved..may be still waiting for him.