An Interview with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: “I live on the earth, underneath the sky”

 

Published in Cheragh – 6th March 2007

Translated by AfghanWire.com

 

Q: Mr. Hekmatyar! Where do you live? In Pakistan or in Afghanistan?

 

A: Mr. Safi! You may ask for my exact address, but unfortunately I don’t have an exact address right now.  I must answer this question by saying that I live on the earth, under the sky.  I left Tehran five years ago in February 2002.  Early in the morning I crossed the border of Iran and after six days I reached a place in Afghanistan where high mountains and bushy forests exist.  It was here where a pilotless American plane attacked me with rockets.  Their spy planes [unmanned drones] flew over us for three days.  We thought that these planes could only make investigative missions – take exact photographs of the region and maintain satellite and telecommunications etc.  The place where we used to stay was such a place that infantry could not enter the region easily.  This was to protect us from bombardments, especially if your location is not known.  A rocket clammed into the ground 70 or 80 metres away from me.  There were many people at the place where the rocket exploded, but thanks be to God none of them were killed.  From that date I haven’t had an exact address.  I stay sometimes here and sometimes there.  My personal situation can be gleaned from the fact that I have been practicing the travellers’ prayers [when Muslims travel, different regulations apply as regards timings and amounts etc] over the past five years.  Search operations have been conducted to find me in Paktya, Wardak, Kunar and Laghman.

 

Over the past five years, I stayed for a month and a half in a place located only 500m away from the Americans.  Their helicopters used to pass over our heads each time they left for military operations.  It was so close that we could have shot at them with our Kalashnikovs.  In this way, their special forces eventually discovered my location.  The brothers told me that the situation was dangerous and that ‘we should move from here’!  I told them that if they came here I would only have to climb the mountain for 100 or 200 metres and would return back when they left.  This is what happened: they came to our area, and we weren’t ready to fight so we just moved 100-150 metres up the mountain.  They inspected the neighbouring house and we watched them.  We could even hear them.  They left and we returned.  At this point we made a mistake because we repeatedly had used our satellite phone at a time when the unmanned American planes and spy drones were patrolling the area.  I even saw 7 drones in one night flying through the area.  Then we spent two nights on one mountain with the American special forces who had come for my capture.  They were on one part of the mountain and we were on the other part 400 metres away from them.  I still wish that the brothers had been ready to fight.  That was a good opportunity to kill the Americans and become a <I>ghazi</I> [those who fight ‘unbeleivers’], but the local Mujahideen didn’t agree on the military operations, and the time wasn’t propitious for such operations.

 

Q: Engineer Hekmatyar! In conflicts, mostly the Taliban are mentioned.  In which regions is your party active?

 

A: Mr. Safi! The enemies link the fighting to three groups:  firstly they mention the Al Qaeda group.  Then they mention the Taliban.  Then thirdly they mention the other opposition to the government, extremist groups and friends of Al Qaeda.  It is clear that the Americans want to pretend that they are fighting these groups and not the Afghan nation.  But, you know that now the foreign forces have confessed that each month an average of 600 attacks are carried out against them.  This means that 20 attacks are carried out against them each day, but they only release the news of two or three of these attacks in the media – those related to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  Now you tell me who carries out the other 17 attacks, and what the Americans thing about that?

 

Q: Do you study religious books? I have seen many of your books, so could you tell me whether you have continued studying, and can we expect any books from you to be written in the future? We also wanted to ask about the suicide attacks; some say that suicide is an illegitimate action.  What is your opinion in this regard?

 

A: Regarding the first part of your question, I should say that thanks to God, in my free time I have always studied and researched.  I have devoted one day to writing and […].  I have written ten books over the past five years and over the past six months I have written a detailed book on the Bible which I hope will be printed soon.  It will be called, “the Bible in the light of the Qur’an”.

 

In terms of the other question, I should say where we can call someone a martyr who has carried out suicide attack or not?  Isn’t the action against the verse of the Qur’an that says “and don’t kill yourself by your own hands”? We should consider some points here.  This is not the complete verse, but is a part of the verse.  The complete verse says that, “and sacrifice yourselves for the sake of god and don’t kill yourself by your own hands and God appreciates the good-doers” [Al-Baqar 195]. The verse indeed calls for jihad and sacrifice for the sake of God and says that avoiding sacrifice for the sake of god is wrong and that you should sacrifice your properties for the sake of god to be saved from death. At the beginning of the verse it states that if someone invades you then you are obliged to give them a similar answer.  That sacrifice here means <I>jihad</I> against the enemy and not sparing ones life and property.  It is a wrong interpretation to say, ‘don’t endanger yourselves’. It is not right to take one part of the verse and not to consider the other part.