Reply by Rahimullah Yusufzai to the questions of Dr Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, regarding Sharbat Gula

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I have already replied to the questions of the Ambassador in Pashto. As he had asked the questions in both Pashto and English to reach a wider audience, here are my answers in English.

1. There were two reasons that I delayed my reply to the Ambassador. One, I felt my reply will be seen as a one-sided attempt to clarify my position. Two, I waited for some of the main stakeholders to explain their position. That wait is now over because both the National Geographic Society, which put the then 12-year old Sharbat Gula’s picture on the cover of its magazine in June 1985 and later in 2002 organized a search for her and made a documentary on it, and American photographer Steve McCurry have issued statements reiterating their trust in me and defending me in the strongest possible words. In fact, these statements are enough to vindicate my position and reject the campaign of lies, slander and defamation against me. However, I feel I should answer the Ambassador’s questions even if I am not answerable to him as he represents the Afghan government and his views carry official sanction.
2. Let me explain at the outset that I am primarily accountable to Sharbat Gula and her late husband Rahmat Gul, the National Geographic and Steve McCurry and his sister Bonnie McCurry who run the McCurry Foundation and do lot of good things. And more importantly, I am accountable to my Allah.
3. Ambassador Zakhilwal, let me tell you that I know everything about Sharbat Gula’s story 2002 onwards when I led the search for her in Afghanistan/Pakistan and helped Steve McCurry and the National Geographic TV crew to try and find her in the Nasir Bagh and other camps for Afghan refugees and in certain localities of Peshawar city. However, I don’t want to discuss and disclose everything as I wish to protect Sharbat Gula’s privacy and honour and don’t intend to talk about the internal issues of her family. If need be and with Sharbat Gula’s permission, I can do that as well.
4. Contrary to what you have heard or been told by a particular relative of Sharbat Gula who is unaware of the details, a proper agreement was concluded and signed between the National Geographic Society and the late Rahmat Gul and his wife Sharbat Gula in 2002 for a period of 10 years guaranteeing payment of US $200 per month to the family. The ‘family’ meant Sharbat Gula and Rahmat Gul only and not the extended family, which include Rahmat Gul’s eight brothers and their children. The agreement was made with the consent of Rahmat Gul and his wife and on their wish was not to be disclosed to anyone else. The agreement was extended for 10 more years in 2012. Copies of the agreement are available and could be presented if need be. Needless to say that I was witness to this agreement and played a key role in persuading the National Geographic to help the poor couple. Besides, the family was assisted in other ways as well, but I won’t to make it public until Sharbat Gula agrees.
5. The National Geographic TV team paid some money directly to Rahmat Gul in 2002 when Sharbat Gula was found and filmed for the documentary. Subsequently, $200 monthly was paid through me and its record is available. The money had to be transferred to my bank account as Rahmat Gul/Sharbat Gula being Afghan refugees couldn’t open a bank account in Pakistan under Pakistani banking laws. This was a stopgap arrangement and we had agreed that they would open a bank account once they return to Afghanistan so that money could be directly transferred by the National Geographic to them.
6. With regard to the amount of $5,000 sent by Steve McCurry and his sister Bonnie McCurry for Sharbat Gula after her recent arrest in Pakistan, it was never deposited in my bank account and was transferred back to the US from where it had been sent. Under Pakistan’s banking laws following the implementation of the anti-terrorism National Action Plan, this couldn’t be transferred to my account without prior clearance. In fact, I wasn’t informed beforehand by Steve and Bonnie McCurry that the amount is being sent to my bank account. They later issued a statement that the money was spent in a hurry to help Sharbat Gula and that it was an error. They also confirmed that $5,000 had been sent back to the US and deposited in their bank account. Steve and Bonnie McCurry have assisted Sharbat Gula in other ways also in recent years and its record is available. Steve and Bonnie McCurry have also issued categorical statements thanking me for helping them to find and assist Sharbat Gula’s family.
7. I didn’t want to talk about the purchase of the house for Rahmat Gul/Sharbat Gula, but the Ambassador mentioned it and made it public. This house was purchased by Steve McCurry and not the National Geographic as you have mentioned. Bonnie McCurry personally came to Peshawar with the funds to oversee the purchase and pay the owner. This is a two-storey house and had cost more than five million Pakistani rupees. Rahmat Gul spent his last days in this house before his death. Sharbat Gula was living in the house with her children in Peshawar and on her request and for her protection one of her brother-in-law and his family also shifted to this house.
8. All of us were concerned about the illness of Rahmat Gul, Sharbat Gula and their eldest daughter, who had got married. The National Geographic, Steve and Bonnie McCurry and I tried to help with the treatment in our own ways.
9. Ambassador Zakhilwal, you have alleged that I didn’t enquire about the well-being of Sharbat Gula for the last more than eight months when it was revealed in the media that she possessed a fake Pakistani ID card. You said that I referred to her as my daughter but didn’t come to her rescue. I cannot help if you aren’t aware of the facts. This is because your information is based on a single source (nephew of Sharbat Gula), who wasn’t aware that during this period Sharbat Gula as usual visited our house a number of times and we also remained in touch on the phone. I tried to help by taking up the issue with government officials and also contacted Pakistan’s interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. With so many people now claiming credit for securing her release, I don’t want to publicize my role in all this as it will amount to self-praise. I must add though that I told the interior minister that Sharbat Gula should not have been arrested as she was a widow and had suffered enough. I told him she ought to be released and treated humanely and honourably. I even proposed to the interior minister to offer Pakistani citizenship to Sharbat Gula as she at that time wanted to stay in Pakistan. He made a commitment to me that she will be released on bail and the government will facilitate her in other ways. He also disclosed that the FIA arrested her without his knowledge.
10. Ambassador Zakhilwal, you also claimed that I didn’t raise the issue of Sharbat Gula in my journalistic work. I am surprised by this as you missed my writings in English daily The News and its translations in Urdu newspapers and my interviews with local and foreign radio stations and on Pakistani TV channels. I have continued to write about it and advocated her cause as I knew her and was aware of her life of suffering.
11. You have alleged that my only interest after her arrest was to get Sharbat Gula to record her comments to clear my name and that you managed to foil this attempt. Isn’t it my right to defend myself and clear my name when I am the target of unfounded allegations reinforced by your Facebook postings in Pashto and English that triggered an onslaught of outright lies and abusive comments about me? As injustice was done to me without hearing my version, I sent my son to seek the comment of Sharbat Gula, who is the main stakeholder in all this, but you blocked this effort.
12. The statements by the National Geographic, which is a famous and credible organization, and Steve McCurry, the celebrated photographer, in my support have already cleared my name. The view of Sharbat Gula carries weight and also that of her only brother Kashar Khan, who is witness to many events in this story. There are also others who may be after her money so their opinion would be biased. You too could have sought information from Sharbat Gula and Kashar Khan instead of asking those who have had no concern about all this for the past 14 years and were short of even basic information. You could also have invited me as was done by the Afghan consul general in Peshawar, Dr Abdullah Waheed Poyan and questioned me by highlighting whatever doubts and misgivings you had about my role in this affair. Instead you went public via the Facebook and tried to put me in the dock. Your Facebook postings made headline news in Afghanistan as your comments are seen as representing the official policy of the Afghan government. All this amounts to defamation as no evidence was presented to back up the accusations against me.
13. I can say with confidence that I tried to help a needy Afghan refugee family, especially Sharbat Gula who has always been like my daughter and many others with honesty and dedication and will InshaAllah continue to assist other helpless people.

Rahimullah Yusufzai