Sunday, September 30, 2001		VIP Toon Tales

MOHAMMED Najibullah, the former President of Afghanistan, became the victim of the sudden developments in his country which threw him out of power and his attempts to flee from Kabul were also foiled. He later had to devote his life to the forces who toppled him.

He was around 45, well-built, and had earned him the nick name ‘The ox’. He gained in importance during the Soviet invasion in 1979 and went on to become the chief of the secret police and in 1986 he occupied the Presidential chair on the exit of Babrek Karmal.

Later, he visited Delhi to strengthen the bilateral relations with our country. It was during his short stay in Delhi, he visited a number of historical places in and around Delhi. I took the chance of meeting him during one of his busy engagements and drew his sketch. The Afghan security men, not aware of my work, were uncooperative. However, as chance would have it, the Afghan President was just passing by my side when I immediately confronted him with his ink sketch, which for a moment made him speechless. He understood my ‘demand’ and soon obliged by signing on the sketch, not in English but in Afghani.