The Afghan Martyrs — Page 28
Although at the time he ascended the throne Habeebulla Khan assured everyone that for the welfare and uplift of his subjects he would undertake reforms and would put an end to the well established Intelligence Agency, in practice he continued to rule following in the footsteps of his father. However, although his father was in no way addicted to pleasure he exceeded all limits in promiscuity. In his book (Observations in Kabul and Yaghistan) Mohammad Ali Kasuri who was an employee of the Mghan Government writes, "Unfortunately His Majesty (Ameer Habeebulla) was totally obsessed with womenfolk. A search was mounted daily for girls for him. In his harem there were perhaps between nine hundred and a thousand women. Some girls belonged to prominent families of Mghanistan and Nooristan. They were normally referred to as 'Soortis' and His Majesty's relationship with them was either as wives or as concubines. When I enquired from the Chief Justice the reason, he asserted that a 'Soorti' is a concubine whom His Majesty chooses for himself. I asked how these women could be classified as 'slaves'. In answer he said that as the forces of His Majesty had conquered Nooristan all the women in that land fell under the category of 'slave girls'. His Majesty had decreed that no girl could marry without his permission as he was their guardian. Every year all unmarried girls were presented to His Majesty. The ones that he chose entered his harem. The others who were sent back were granted permission to marry. Apart from that there were some other girls who were presented to the Ameer by their own parents and graciously His Majesty accepted the gift and rewarded the fathers. When I opined that this practice was a gross insult to the Islamic Shariat the Chief Justice said that criticism of the conduct of the Ameer was 28