Afghanistan’s booming car sales industry has been thrown into chaos by a growing aversion to the number “39,” which almost overnight has become an unlikely synonym for pimp and a mark of shame in this deeply conservative country.
Drivers of cars with number plates containing 39, bought before the once-harmless double digits took on their new meaning, are mocked and taunted across Kabul.
“Now even little kids say ‘look, there goes the 39’. This car is a bad luck, I can’t take my family out in it,” said Mohammad Ashraf who works for a United Nations project. Other “39” owners flew into a rage or refused to speak when asked whether their car was a burden.
No one is quite sure why the number became so contaminated so fast, but Kabul gossip blames a pimp in neighbouring Iran, which shares a common language with much of Afghanistan. His flashy car had a 39 in its number plate, the story goes, so he was nicknamed “39” and the tag spread.
The shunning of 39 comes just weeks after drivers raced to remove rainbow decorations that were spotted on imported cars and became fashionable until conservative Afghans learnt they were also gay pride symbols.
Dealers say thousands of dollars of stock is now sitting unwanted in their yards, with even a prime condition vehicle almost unsaleable if its plates bear the now-hated numerals.
The head of the union of car dealers in Kabul, Najibullah Amiri, blames corrupt police officers for fanning the trend.
The issue has gained prominence just as number plates for Afghan cars – which carry five digits – rolled over from the series that starts with 38, to a new series that starts with 39.
Amiri said officials at the police traffic department charge buyers between $200 and $500 to change a “39” number plate for a new car to something less offensive.
“It is a scheme by the police traffic department to earn money from buyers,” he told.
Akbar Khan, deputy chief executive of Kabul’s Traffic Police rejects the charge of corruption and blames the capital’s residents for taking something unimportant too seriously.
“This was stirred up by the residents of Herat and passed on to Kabul. I think it’s nonsense,” Khan told.
Herat is a bustling city near the Iranian border, and an auto import hub.
