PUNE, DEC 27: The very birth of the Kandahar international airport, where the hijacked IC-814 now rests, has an Indian connection to it. When it was built in the early sixties with US assistance, it was precisely because Kandahar lay on a direct line between Teheran and New Delhi.Even today, Kandahar is the most important trade centre in war-torn Afghanistan and, together with Peshawar, makes up the two great cities of the Pathans. Everyone here speaks Pashto, which is the softer version of the Pakhtu spoken in Peshawar. But when one thinks of the passengers of IC-814 let alone the fact that they must be under extreme stress - what comes to mind almost immediately is the sub-zero night temperature in Kandahar at this time of the year. Temperatures here can drop as low as 10 degrees below Celsius in December. After Kabul, Kandahar is considered Afghanistan's second most important city and most of the Taliban leadership is drawn from the Kandahari mullahs. Located 320 miles south-west of Kabul, Kandaharhas always been central to men who who have ruled or targeted India over the centuries.Old Kandahar, the capital of 18th century ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani, lies some five miles west of the present city. It was looted and sacked by Nadir Shah in 1738. Two centuries before Nadir Shah, the first Mughal, Babur, recorded details of his conquests on inscriptions. And later, Akbar too chipped in with an inscription to record his sway over Kandahar.History says that they even discovered an Ashokan inscription in the city which was probably the most western outpost of his empire. History apart, Kandahar is home to not just the leaders of the Taliban, but mostly Pathans of the Durrani tribe. There are also Kakars and Ghilzais and others who speak Persian. But today, Kandahar remains a city under the total control of the Taliban, a Sunni militia which has no love for the Shiite west or the Tajik and Uzbek pockets in the north. All in all, not the nicest of the places to be in if you don't agree with them.
