I personally knew Sushmita Banerjee. She came to my home to tell her stories when I lived in Kolkata in 2004-2007. She told me many horror stories of her life– how she a Bengali woman married an Afghan and how she escaped from Afghanistan, came back to Kolkata, wrote her memoir, and became popular overnight.
I was really shocked when I heard that Sushmita was shot dead by the Taliban in Afghanistan. I have no idea why she went to Afghanistan. Her decision of going back to that country was no doubt wrong. Was that for love? Love kills women.
Sushmita escaped the Taliban in 1995. This year she returned to Afghanistan, the country which was supposed to be better now, and started working as a health assistence at a local hospital. After months of working quite peacefully, Sushmta had to die. The Taliban came to her husband’s house at night, tied up her husband and others, dragged her out of the house and killed her! Do the Taliban need to tie up others when they kill one? May be they need. Or maybe they don’t. Maybe someone from her in-laws informed the Taliban that Sushmita, the ‘immoral woman’, who fled husband’s house and wrote bad about them was there, maybe those men knew about her deeds and whereabouts from other sources. Or they were angry with her because she worked outside home and gave vaccines. Polio activists get killed in those areas. Maybe she did not wear her burqa properly. I can’t stop thinking of her.
I do not know about the conspiracy behind killing Sushmita, but I know why she was killed. She was killed, no matter by whom, the Taliban or not, because of patriarchy , misogyny and religion.
I read her story. Cant simply believe she had gone back to Afgan. It is an absolute madness. I’m shocked at her discretion! the rest is obvious!
This is utterly despicable and the Taliban that perpetrated this should be shot on sight. So sickening, ugh.
Why did she have to go back? Our newspapers and MPs are not interested in the question.
It may not have been because of love. It seems she did not have a choice because she hadn’t been able to make a living in the budding super-power that India is, and she got a job as a paramedic in Afghanistan.
Yeah that may be the case.
if she could get a job as paramedic there, probably she could do that anywhere. She probably went there because of her family. Her family may not shifted to India. She, just like any emotional mother, must have followed her heart, to be with her children, husband.
But, were the killers really Taliban? Todays TOI, shows denial by Taliban. Then who did it? But yes, she has been killed. Awomen, working, defying something, an Indian, what not, but yes, she has been killed….
Sad…… Intriguing……..
Definitely, details will be helpful, for many answers.