Attracting dust but few prospective buyers in a car lot
on the outskirts of Kabul, three saloon cars, a crane and a dump
truck sit abandoned due a numerical curse that has swept
Afghanistan.
A bizarre phenomenon that equates the number 39 with
prostitution has become a headache for the car industry, as buyers
avoid car licence plates containing the dreaded number for fear of
being ostracised.
"This is no longer just a social issue, it is becoming an
economic issue for us," said the car yard's owner Said Mohammad
Zaman.
"It has been months and no-one is buying them," he said,
pointing at the white, black and blue sedans and the construction
vehicles cluttering up his lot.
According to many Afghans, "39" got its bad reputation through a
well-known pimp who was often identified by the number on his car
plates as he drove around Herat, the western city that lies closes
to the border with Iran.
The man's seedy image and illicit business meant that the number
became associated with immorality. Apocryphal or not, the tale
spread to other Afghan cities in recent years -- and the curse was
born.
Now anyone seen travelling around sporting a "39" licence plate
is in danger of being linked to the underground sex industry that
is taboo in the devoutly Muslim nation.
Bashir Ahmad, who bought a Toyota Corolla for $12,000 in Kabul
at the beginning of the year, is now trying to sell it for $6,000
after becoming a laughing stock in his neighbourhood due to the
unlikely urban legend.
"I didn't know about this 39 thing, but soon some boys near my
home started ridiculing me," he says. "At first I didn't care, but
now, every time I return from work, the boys shout 'Hey! Here comes
Haji 39!'"
Car industry professionals say the number's unwanted place in
the popular imagination is damaging for dealers trying to make an
honest living in the war-ravaged nation.
"This is what idiots believe in, it is mere superstition. But it
causes big economic loss for anyone dealing with the number 39 in
one way or another," said Mohammad Bashir Haqjo, a car yard owner
and member of the Kabul union of car dealers.
The problem has been acute lately as the traffic commission,
which issues car plates in numerical order, has had only "39"
plates to offer.
Car agents say there are now only about 200 number plates left
in the batch, but many of those purchasing new vehicles have been
seen doctoring their plates illegally, using white paint to change
the digits to something more benign.
The issue has infuriated the traffic authorities.
Nooruddin Hamdard, chief of the traffic department of Kabul,
described the curse as "baseless and ridiculous".
"Those people who are illiterate pay attention to such things,"
said Hamdard. "We used to issue a large number of number plates
every day but now because of this baseless rumour, we are issuing
far less."
The problem, it seems, even extends to taxi drivers.
Abdul Samad, a Kabul taxi driver whose car plates include "39",
says people make fun of him when he is transporting female
passengers.
"People think that I am a real pimp and since I have women in my
car, they perceive that I am doing business with the women," he
said. "I am selling this car soon."