Moji Sidiqi speaks at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally as people begin lighting candles at City Hall in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
Activists gather on the steps of ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Hall on Aug. 22, 2021 to pray for peace in Afghanistan and reject the rule of the Taliban. Rachel Rice for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ
Rev. Darryl Gray speaks before reciting an interfaith prayer at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally at City Hall in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
Sahar Hassaini recites a poem on the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
Arbila Hatifie, left, one of the organizers of the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally, leads chants on the steps of City Hall in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
Fahim Aksir, center, from ºüÀêÊÓƵ, waves an Afghan flag over the crowd gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
People gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ light candles after an interfaith prayer on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
Zaki Sahil, center, from ºüÀêÊÓƵ, waves an Afghan flag over the crowd gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
Imam Ahmad Durrani, from Masjid Abu Bakr Al Siddiq speaks to the crowd gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Daniel Shular
A crowd of hundreds of supporters gathered near the steps of City Hall for the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS — Abdul Saboor Amin lives in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, but his parents and siblings are still back in Afghanistan. He is afraid for them, he said, now that the Taliban have wrested control from the elected government.
“They call me crying, saying, ‘Please do something,’†Amin said. “Everybody is crying. You can’t control it ... when your country is in trouble.â€
Roughly 300 people, many of them Afghan immigrants, gathered on the steps of City Hall on a sweltering Sunday afternoon to pray for their country and reject the rule of the Taliban, which claimed power in the country earlier this month.
The Taliban’s return to power has sent scores of Afghans on a desperate bid to flee the country, fearing violence. Amin said that “nobody but the Taliban†believes the claims that things will be different this time.
Moji Sidiqi, one of the organizers of the event, left Afghanistan 27 years ago. For 20 years after the fall of the Taliban, she said, Afghanistan made progress. Women were learning and working again.
“The Taliban invading Afghanistan is a disaster for us,†she said. “The women are terrified. They are like candy on a shelf right now. Anything could be a reality — rape, torture, public humiliation, death. Especially those who have advocated for women’s empowerment — they will be targeted. I pray for them.â€
The group marched down Tucker Boulevard waving the flag of Afghanistan, which is now a sign of defiance within the country itself. They held signs advocating for Afghan lives and chanted for peace. A firefighter driving a ºüÀêÊÓƵ fire truck passed the crowd and flashed a peace sign, honking the horn.
Imam Ahmad Durrani, who heads the congregation at Masjid Abu Bakr Al Siddiq on South Grand Boulevard, held a large sign in red and green marker which read “Afghanistan is bleeding and the world is silent!â€
“Our country was invaded by a group of terrorists,†Durrani said before the crowd. “They are trying to fool the world by labeling their inhuman acts as an Islamic movement. We need to establish right from wrong — Islam is a religion of peace and love and compassion.â€
Local officials have said that as many as 1,000 Afghan refugees could come to ºüÀêÊÓƵ. The International Institute of ºüÀêÊÓƵ is working to provide them with resources.
Photos: Save Afghanistan rally held in front of ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Hall
On Saturday, Mohammad Mosavi was among dozens getting a new tablet and cell phone at an event hosted at the International Institute's headquar…
Moji Sidiqi speaks at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally as people begin lighting candles at City Hall in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Activists gather on the steps of ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Hall on Aug. 22, 2021 to pray for peace in Afghanistan and reject the rule of the Taliban. Rachel Rice for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ
Rev. Darryl Gray speaks before reciting an interfaith prayer at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally at City Hall in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Sahar Hassaini recites a poem on the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Arbila Hatifie, left, one of the organizers of the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally, leads chants on the steps of City Hall in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Fahim Aksir, center, from ºüÀêÊÓƵ, waves an Afghan flag over the crowd gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
People gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ light candles after an interfaith prayer on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Zaki Sahil, center, from ºüÀêÊÓƵ, waves an Afghan flag over the crowd gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
Imam Ahmad Durrani, from Masjid Abu Bakr Al Siddiq speaks to the crowd gathered near the steps of City Hall at the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com
A crowd of hundreds of supporters gathered near the steps of City Hall for the Save Afghanistan - Our Flag Our Identity rally in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The group marched, handed out water, hosted speakers and gave out information on how to donate to aid organizations in Afghanistan. Photo by Daniel Shular, dshular@post-dispatch.com