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During 1964, the Constitution allowed for women to entry into the National Assembly. The first woman to be cabinet member was Kubru Nurzai as Minister of Health. Later, during 1970's many women, especially from upper class, adopted Western style of clothes. However, not all sectors of the society accept the new code of behavior. In 1970 two conservative mullah shot at the legs of female teachers and girl students dressed in Western clothes, protesting the public display of female liberation in the form of Western dress.
In 1978, a new episode for women began. The government provided women with changes in their status in society. One of the changes was within the Decree Number 7 which forbids forced marriages and establishes a minimum age for marriage, under penalty of imprisonment of up to three years. In addition, the government gave women the right to work. The Labor Law of 1984 ensured equal job opportunities for everybody including women. By 1992, women constituted up to 50 percent of work force Women were serving in the army and thousands of women served in the police until the political fanatics came to power. Women's situation even worsened when the Taliban defeated these fanatics and took power in 1994.
Traditionally, male relatives have always controlled the lives of
Afghan
women. Females are expected to be modest and pure, and these virtues
have
always been essential to the honor of one's family. But while these
aspects
have a definite origin in Islam, political groups, especially the
Taliban,
have twisted them politically. Women are often raped during military
attacks
as a way to dishonor entire villages and weaken their will to fight
back.
Political regimes often use corrupted interpretations of Islam to rule
over
fearful populations, and no one has mastered this concept quite like
the
Taliban.
Afghanistan is an example where once women were
allowed to contribute to sustaining economic growth and development.
Afghan women in small numbers joined public life in the 1920's with the
support of King Amanullah and Queen Soraya. Queen Soraya
addressed a gathering of women in the celebration of the 7th
anniversary (1926) of independence stating:
"Do not think, however, that our nation needs only men to serve it.
Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of
Islam. The valuable services rendered by women are recounted
throughout history from which we learn that women were not created
solely for pleasure and comfort. From their examples we learn that we
must all contribute toward the development of our nation and that this
can not be done without being equipped with knowledge..."
Ironically, 70 years after Queen Soraya's speech the struggle and
efforts that the previous generation made to gain political and economic
rights for women is threatened. Today, a woman's basic right to vote, to
pursue an education, and to join the job force is threatened by the
Taliban, a political group that gain the control of the country and run the
government by their "Islamic" code. Noor Mohammed, a senior
member of the Taliban's Centeral Committee states, "We categorically
refuse to let women vote or participate in politics..."8 Taliban's
insistence on secluding women from public life is derived from Saudi
Arabia's interpretation of the Quran. This interpretation is colored by
Saudi Arabia's cultural ideology. To gain financial rewards Taliban
emulates Saudi Arabia's orthodox view that restricts a women's right to
vote and participate in public life. Taliban's political power depends on
oppressing woman
CONSEQUENCES
Women are beaten, stoned, whipped and killed for violating these new
laws.
According to the Feminist Majority Foundation, an elderly woman was
beaten
with a metal cable until her leg was broken because her ankle was
mistakenly
showing from underneath her burqa, the body-covering cloth all women
are
required to wear. Women have been shot for leaving their home without a
male
relative to seek medical attention. Many have died from treatable
illnesses
because male doctors were not allowed to treat them.
The few changes that have occurred since the Taliban originally took
over
have hardly helped the status of women. They are now only allowed to
work in
health care, and very few are allowed to do that. The ones who are
allowed
to work are constantly harassed. Some hospitals have segregated wards
for
women, but those that do not will not treat women under any
circumstance. A
few home schools have sprung up for girls, some with Taliban approval,
and
some without. Those women teaching without approval have in some cases
been
shot in front of their young students. The Taliban was also gracious
enough
to finally allow war widows to work so they can feed their starving
children.
According to research conducted by Amnesty International, a human
rights
organization, literacy rates for women have dropped to as low as 4
percent
in some areas. Afghanistan is ranked at the bottom of the United
Nations
gender development index. The ban on female education will surely
weaken
Afghanistan's economic and social development. And the ban on female
employment is sure to affect the education of men as well, as women
made up
almost 70 percent of school teachers before the takeover.
RELIGIOUS CORRUPTION
The Taliban regime was founded in Pakistan, where young, often
illiterate
students studied their version of "Islam" in refugee camps. They claim
to be
the saviors of all Muslims, even though most Muslims would hardly
agree.
The Taliban's decree on covering of the face is in direct contradiction
to
Islamic law. Women's rights to work are also
not
denied by the Koran, which states, "Men shall have a benefit from what
they
earn, and women shall have a benefit from what they earn (4.32)." The
Koran
also states that women must choose whether to wear the veil. Nowhere
does it
say that she may be forced to wear it, and doing so actually violates
her
ability to freely express her willing devotion to God according to the
Koran's teachings. But the Taliban refuses to acknowledge these
differences
between the Koran and its dictatorial laws.
In addition to the sanctions listed above, women are forced to paint
all
windows in their homes black. A woman may not raise her voice in
public, and
her testimony is worth only half a man's testimony. All recreational
facilities for women have been banned, and all entertainment, such as
movies, has been as well for both genders. Women cannot wear heels or
any
other form of noise-making shoe, for the Taliban has decreed that the
clicking sound "corrupts" men. They are forbidden to wear white socks,
and
if caught wearing nail polish, their fingers could be chopped off.
FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
The Taliban receives most of its support from Pakistan, which supplies
military aid and officers. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
also
support the Taliban financially. Although neither the United States nor
the
United Nations has recognized the Taliban as the official government of
Afghanistan, the United States in particular offers indirect financial
support to the group. For example, UNOCAL, a U.S. energy company,
planned to
build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan, but backed off in 1998
partly
because of feminist protests. The Taliban could have gained as much as
$ 100
million a year had that pipeline been built. Other U.S. and
international
corporate interests are competing for business in the country as well,
which
could allow the Taliban to take in billions of dollars.
Feminist and human rights organizations achieved some minor victories
with
the prevention of UNOCAL's pipeline and of the Taliban's recognition by
the
U.S. and U.N., but their battle is far from over. The Pakistan's Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI) needs to stop supporting the Taliban. Now that Bush is in office, Ruman rights issues can not be become a second goal while we are confronting to bring justice against the terrorists
The U.S. may negotiate with the Taliban to release alleged
terrorist
Osamu Bin Laden, who is suspected in several attacks against U.S. embassies, the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and commercial airlines in
return for recognition.
The women of Afghanistan need our help to regain the basic freedom they
have
lost. We need to show groups like the Taliban that the stripping of
human
rights from anyone will not be tolerated.
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