Women’s right activists are calling the intra-Afghan dialogue, an abdication of American and international responsibility to support universal human rights. They further state that Taliban ideology is based on puritanical Wahabi Islamic foundation and will never accommodate Afghan women to have a place in their society.
By Balaji Subramanian
“Religion does not require women to veil their hands, feet, and faces or enjoin any special type of veil. Tribal custom must not impose itself on the free will of the individual.”
Amanullah KhanKing of Afghanistan (1919-1929), known as the “reform” king.
As we celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March, a major development had taken place in Afghanistan which could see the return of the Taliban.
With the recently concluded US-Taliban peace deal held in Qatar, many have questioned the failure of the US to achieve the minimum standard for the rights of women, an issue which has gained a lot of momentum.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Sunday (8 March) called for inclusion of women in peace talks.
Women’s right activists are calling the intra-Afghan dialogue, an abdication of American and international responsibility to support universal human rights. They further state that Taliban ideology is based on puritanical Wahabi Islamic foundation and will never accommodate Afghan women to have a place in their society.
Many in Afghanistan, fear the return of the days when stoning women to death and mass executions being carried out in football stadium is still a fresh memory. Women were not even allowed to leave home with a male guardian and violence against women was justified in the name of Islam.
If the Taliban returns to Kabul, it will certainly not follow parliamentary democracy. After the Americans pushed them out in 2001, many women went on to become parliamentarians, civil servants, businesswomen and ministers.
The condition of women in Afghanistan is far from normal but it pales in comparison when the Taliban was ruling. However democracy has taken roots and in 2009, the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law, was promulgated by President Hamid Karzai which was was a milestone.
Afghan women are more aware of their rights and even though conviction through EVAW is rare, it is still a huge achievement.
However, the conservative faction has called this law, un-Islamic and the administrations of both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani cannot be called champions of women’s rights. A proposal to allow women to be part of the peace process under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 was rejected.
It was a mistake not to involve the Afghan government to be part of the US-Taliban peace deal. One can argue that the US-Taliban deal was focused on foreign troop withdrawal and the Taliban’s commitment not to extend its support to any international terror groups or provide sanctuary.
However, it was a huge let down for women’s right activists when the American envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, said that women’s rights should be resolved through the subsequent intra-Afghan talks.
Though the Taliban, claimed that women will have rights under the Islamic system, it is not inconceivable to have a suspicion given their past conduct.
On 20 February, a shameful oped written by By Sirajuddin Haqqani, the deputy leader of the Taliban was published in the New York Times in which he wrote, “We together will find a way to build an Islamic system in which all Afghans have equal rights, where the rights of women that are granted by Islam — from the right to education to the right to work — are protected.”
But when it ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban gave women no such rights and implemented Sharia law and flogging and stoning of women was a common practice.
Former Bush National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “We were spending American blood and treasure to liberate the people of Afghanistan from one of the most brutal regimes on the face of the earth. That we would not use that moment to press for women’s rights seems to me unthinkable”.
No one in Afghanistan wants peace more than the women who have endured hell in the last 40 years. However, the peace deal has all the hallmarks of return to the subjugation of women who are seen as a moderating force in societies around the world.
However, for the women of Afghanistan, the wait could be longer as they ferociously fight for equality but still celebrate women’s day, albeit on a sombre note.
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