Was watching a documentary on how the Talibans systematically destroyed history of Afghanistan to tighten their establishment of the distorted Islam belief and governance. One of three stories in this documentary, was how a group of staff at the Afghan Film Archive kept the Afghan films safe from being destroyed. They handed over the films to the Talibans who then burnt them all in the compound of the archive. What the destroyers did not know, was that those were not negatives. The staff hid a room filled with two thousands odd reel of negatives from their eyes. They built a wall over the door of the room, disconnected the power supply and seal the room for over a decade during the Taliban regime. Each day, they guarded this secret with their lives so that the future generations get a chance to see Afghan heritage preserved on films. Thankfully, the Talibans are now driven out of the country and the archived negatives can be shown to the world again. To remind themselves of those dark and fearful days, they kept the staff passes issued by the Taliban then till today. The pass also tell their silence fighting against ruthless rulers.
When was the last time you guard with your life, for something you believed in? And really, sometimes a simple man or a simple act can change the history.
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