Several shopkeepers in Mina Bazaar in the city of Fayzabad, the center of Badakhshan province, say the Taliban, after renovating their shops, are now reselling them back to them at exorbitant prices. These shopkeepers add that they purchased their shops years ago and hold official ownership documents, but the Taliban-run municipality in Fayzabad does not recognize these documents. According to them, the Taliban are even demanding money from individuals who renovated their own shops at their own expense.
These shopkeepers told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the amount set for repurchasing the shops ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 US dollars. They say that if they do not buy back their shops, the Taliban will not allow them to continue their business. According to the shopkeepers, their shops were damaged during the Taliban’s renovation process; despite this, the Taliban have neither compensated them for the damage nor refrained from demanding additional payments.
Mina Bazaar is one of the old markets of Badakhshan, and its land belongs to the Ministry of Defense and is under the Taliban’s administration. Shops in this market are typically sold temporarily for three-year periods.
Mobin (pseudonym), one of the shopkeepers in this bazaar who has supported his family for years through this shop, says the Taliban covered his shop with metal sheets and then resold it to him at an exorbitant price. He adds that this move by the Taliban has created serious economic challenges for the shopkeepers under the current conditions. According to him, shopkeepers cannot protest out of fear of arrest.
Mobin says, “I bought my shop in 2001 and spent only 200,000 Afghanis on it. Now they want to resell this shop to us after renovation; I do not know what will happen next. For example, a shop that we had previously purchased for 1,500 dollars is now priced at seven to eight lakh Afghanis after a renovation that cost 300,000. Their prices do not go below 600,000 Afghanis. We do not know where this huge amount of money goes.”
Shekab (pseudonym), who runs a children’s clothing shop in this market with his three brothers, considers this Taliban action unjust. He says they purchased these shops “with great hardship,” and now they cannot afford the heavy sums being demanded.
With a trembling voice, Shekab adds, “This move is truly worrying. Shops that we bought for 500 to 600 dollars now have to be repurchased for 10,000 to 14,000 dollars or even more. Recently, sales have become so low that we cannot afford such payments. I am very worried. Even the shops that were rebuilt look no different from before; only the color of their metal sheeting has changed.”
Sahel, Shekab’s brother and another shopkeeper in this market, says their shops did not need any renovation. He adds, “Our shop had not changed at all and did not need renovation. It is unclear why this was done. Families are already in a difficult situation, and this makes the pressure worse.”
Another shopkeeper in this market, who asked not to be named due to security threats, says that to provide for his family, he personally renovated his shop, but the Taliban still took 20,000 dollars from him.
This shopkeeper says, “I renovated my shop myself, yet they still took 20,000 dollars from me. We cannot raise our voices because no one hears us, and those who protest are suppressed. The price of the shops is even doubled for those who object.” He stresses that if shopkeepers protest, not only will their problem remain unresolved, but the Taliban will also shut down their shops.
Mina Bazaar is one of the oldest commercial centers in Fayzabad city in Badakhshan province and has been active from the time of the Mujahideen until now. Various items such as clothing, shoes, utensils, leather goods, and other merchandise are sold there. Shopkeepers say that several years ago, the former municipality signed a contract with one of Badakhshan’s traders, and that trader built the shops in Mina Bazaar; afterward, people purchased them at a set price. According to them, the shops were structurally sound and had no safety issues. However, the Taliban-run municipality has been renovating these shops over the past year.
The shopkeepers say the Taliban municipality in Fayzabad had announced that it would rebuild their shops, but the form they were asked to sign contained no details about the exorbitant charges. They add that after these problems emerged, they repeatedly tried to meet with the Taliban municipality officials, but the Taliban at this institution have refused to meet or respond.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
از مالکیت قانونی تا زورگویی طالبان؛ دکانهای مینا بازار دوباره به صاحبانش فروخته میشوند
