"Under Khan you had to cover the faces of mannequins just as women cover their
faces," recalls the 25-year-old who has himself had a style change, recently
abandoning the traditional shalwar kamiz of baggy trousers and a long shirt for
a Western-type suit.
Since the turban-wearing former holy warrior was transferred to Kabul by
US-backed President Hamid Karzai in September 2004, more women visit Azizi`s
shop. Most would have not dared to enter just over a year ago.
The removal of Khan, who ruled Herat as his own personal fiefdom, was part of a
plan secretly backed by the United States and the United Nations to reduce the
power of Afghanistan`s regional warlords and their private armies.
Karzai ordered the silver-bearded Khan to the capital to serve as energy
minister, a sector in which he has some experience.
He guaranteed 24-hour power to Herat, much of it from Iran, while Kabul`s
supply lasts only a few hours a week.
Khan`s departure met with resistance. Several people were killed in riots and
the offices of UN and other aid agencies were torched by his supporters opposed
to the appointment, which Khan took several months to accept.
While the ethnic Tajik strongman was criticized by rights groups for his strict
stance on women, including barring them from being alone with men who were not
relatives, he won local support by putting money into public works.
One such project is Bagh-i-Milat park on a hillside on the outskirts of the
city. Young men and women now visit its several fountains and restaurants on
dates; in Khan`s time they would have been arrested.
"I come here with my girlfriend it`s fun," says a 22-year-old student, who
asked not to be identified. "Ismail Khan would have killed me if I was seen
here with a girl," he said.
Sitting crosslegged in one of the restaurants, filled with smoke from bubbling
chilams (pipes), two students sip from Pepsi cans filled with vodka smuggled
from a base of about 800 mainly Italian NATO-led peacekeepers in the city.
Drinking alcohol is prohibited by both Islam and by Afghanistan`s constitution,
a ban Khan enforced strictly.
Despite the increased freedoms in the city of one million people, many are
still conservative. There may be miniskirts in the shop windows but not on the
street.
"Young women wear them only to wedding parties," Azizi said. Men and women sit
in separate rooms at weddings in Afghanistan.
"God knows what women wear inside their room," jokes a director of a popular
wedding hall.
Despite being cut off from his regional power base, Khan remains an important
figure in Herat. About 10 of his supporters made their way into the parliament
elected in September, said university lecturer and journalist Ahmad Saeed
Aqiqi.
Many in the well-ordered city miss Khan. "He built streets, clinics and
schools. He brought us electricity, good security -- he was good, but Karzai
took him away from us," says car parts salesman Ali Reza.
"He is a good Muslim. He was working for the good of his people," says
34-year-old teacher Mohammad Shafiq.
Khan, now in his 60s, declared himself governor of Herat province after he and
several other former Mujahideen helped the United States topple the Taliban in
late 2001.
While governor he refused to hand over to the central administration millions
of dollars in tariffs from trade with neighbouring Iran and Turkmenistan,
annoying Karzai`s cash-strapped government.
Instead he used the money on roads, schools, hospitals and factories, turning
the war-damaged city into the most prosperous in Afghanistan`s 34 provinces.
"He was bad at limiting our freedoms and he was good because he worked on
reconstruction," recalls Shaker Payman. "I like him for the one and I don`t for
the other."
