New York Times Article about Khalil Nuristani

[samsloan]

Thank you for this article but it contains a few errors.
I visited Nuristan twice, in 1977 and 1978, but these visits were
brief as I only spent one night there each time as it was illegal to
visit Nuristan without permission. In 1978 I wound up in jail in
Afghanistan, escaped, was recaptured and finally released across the
border to Torkham Pakistan. I then went to Chitral where I met some of
the same Nuristanis I had met in Nuristan but who by then were
refugees as the War in Afghanistan had started.
When I returned to the USA I met Khalil Nuristani who was then living
on 116th Street across the street from Columbia University. He bought
a camera and gave it to me to take to Shah Wali on my next visit to
Chitral. I went to Chitral and met Shah Wali and gave him the camera.
He then told me that two of Khalil Nuristani's daughters had been
killed when the Russians bombed Nuristan but the other two daughters
had survived. However, he told me not to tell Khalil Nuristani that
two of his daughters were dead as it would be too upsetting to him.
Nevertheless, when I returned to New York City I told Khalil Nuristani
that two of his daughters were dead and gave him the names as given me
by Shah Wali. I felt I had no right to withhold that information from
him.
It is apparently true that not long thereafter he returned to
Pakistan. This was a mistake because had he stayed in New York a bit
longer he might have gotten a green card as a refugee. I saw him again
when I visited Chitral in 1983. By then he was living in a house just
outside the Royal Palace in Chitral, given to him by the ruler of
Chitral. He was recognized as the chief of the tribe and was issuing
passes to allow the Nuristanis permission to cross the border into
Afghanistan. Sam Sloan

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/a-long-lost-window-into-afghan-history/