On September 29, 2025, the Taliban implemented a nationwide internet shutdown. The shutdown curtailed both mobile and broadband internet services, plunging Afghanistan into chaos and creating an even deeper sense of repression, as Afghans were suddenly cut off from contact with family and friends, while commerce and aviation ground to a halt. Having wreaked havoc not only on Afghan women but Afghan men as well, the edict was lifted after two days. But the experience left a deep scar of fear and isolation among Afghan women, who depend on the internet as a lifeline for contact outside their homes. Marjan (pseudonym), an Afghan woman lawyer in IANGEL’s BRIDGE project, wrote a poem to capture her stark feelings of this blackout, and she shared it with IANGEL on October 3, 2025:
October 3, 2025
Oh carrier pigeon, my messenger,
Come sit beside me, I welcome your pain as my own.
From the sorrow and grief of exile today,
I’ve written letters that burn the heart.
Take these letters to my friends,
From my hands to my family and kin.
Tell the Taliban, you cruel people,
You’ve severed the ties of connection and reunion.
You’ve cut the threads of light,
You’ve blocked the path of love and familiarity.
Oh beautiful pigeon with graceful wings,
The moment you bring news from my loved ones,
Ask about their condition and well-being,
For I’m deprived of speaking with them.
See if my friends are safe and sound,
For worry makes my heart bleed.
My friends have no sign from me,
May the seed of the godless Taliban never remain.
Ask my brother how he is,
And ask about my sister’s state too.
Tell my dear brother, oh kind soul,
I have no news from my family and friends.
Send my greetings to my people,
And share a few heartfelt words from me.