"Afghan women are like sleeping lions, when awoken, they can play a wonderful role in any social revolution." -- Meena Keshwar Kamal - (1956-1987)
"If elected I will face up to the old men with guns that destroyed our country. Now it is our turn to fight with them." -- Sabrina Sagheb - age 25
Sabrina Sagheb represents the sleeping lion now awaking for a fight throughout Afghanistan. This 25-year-old parliamentary candidate is campaigning on a platform of liberal reform and gender equality, with a campaign poster that has raised more than a few eyebrows across Kabul. The term "charm offensive" sums it up best. A beautiful and modern young woman, educated in Iran, she hopes to make the wearing of the burkha a matter of choice for all women and advocates an end to forced marriages.
In a time where female candidates, activists, and leaders are routinely targeted, attacked, and assassination, its hard to not swell with pride when young women like Sabrina stand up and publicly voice their dissent. When conservative critics voice their disgust with her campaign and call her 'un-Islamic' in hopes of getting her to back down, she calmly replies, "If you are not happy with me, then don't vote for me."
But there are men that will be. Young men like Muhammad Naseen, who are ready for a change, regardless of gender. "We have already voted in a lot of men. Now it is time for change."
Change like that of another candidate in Herat, Nahid Ahmadi Farid, a young lioness of one, who enters the fray armed with a political science degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
"We don't want regrets and we don't want to suffer another five years. We don't want the same problems again," Farid says. "I have stood up because of the problems Afghan women are facing. We have been behind walls for the past 30 years and no one was listening to our voice.
These women, and others like them across the country are taking enormous risks to themselves and their families to fight for equality and a brighter future for their country. They fight against the decades of oppression forced upon them during the Soviet and Taliban times. They fight against the corruption and abuse in the current government that only last year signed into law a bill that essentially legalized marital rape.
They have a role model in Meena Keshwar Kamal, the passionate founder of RAWA, Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, assassinated in 1987. She was an outspoken activist and feminist that founded the organization in 1977 when she was still a student at Kabul University. RAWA's manifesto is to promote equality and education for women and strive to "give voice to the deprived and silenced women of Afghanistan." The organization still operates today, underground, under great risk, but also with great success, running orphanages and schools under different names to avoid attack. Meetings are held in secret locations, always changing, to continue the work Meena started, despite the risks.
Meena's assassination at only 30 years old, did not deter RAWA, and their statement regarding her death demonstrates that her warrior spirit lives on. "The enemy was rightly shivering with fear by the love and respect that Meena was creating within the hearts of our people. They knew that within the fire of her fights all the enemies of freedom, democracy and women would be turned to ashes."
That fire is sparking again after the Taliban systemically fought to repress it and the Karzai government refuses to enforce the constitutional rights afforded them since their defeat. Women activists are breathing life into the dormant coals and finding that there are others ready to fight alongside them. It is up to all of us to not just encourage that fight, but to take up arms alongside them.
Follow Shannon Galpin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sgalpin
On 9-24-10, NYTimes ran a story about a woman forced to play the lead in her movie, shot in Kabul, because the Taliban had kidnapped her leading lady and cut off the actress' feet. On 9-22, the NYTimes' stated the unfortunate girl was unavailable for comment, having sought refuge in a remote part of the country. On 9-24, it was revealed that the tale of the poor actress was a complete fabrication.
So why, when over 800 women's organizations openly operate, lifting the condition of women IN Afghanistan, running girls schools actually called girls schools, so parents and students can find and attend them, does RAWA maintain its headquarter in the most Taliban/ISI controlled part of Pakistan, and "operate today, underground... orphanages and schools under different names to avoid attack"? Puhleeeeze.
To learn what's really happening with Afghan women, follow the link below:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/Afghan+women+doomed+NATO+leaves/3623589/story.html
The story of RAWA's secret schools is, like the story of the actress, fabricated for propaganda purposes.
If the US/NATO withdraw before Afghanistan can defend itself, the gargantuan losers will be Afghan women and girls. The winners will be the Taliban and their ISI masters (note above: RAWA location). Coincidence? Not.
BTW, Afghan women never had it so good as they did under the Soviets.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-soalt/got-fierce_b_730798.html
Women who risk their safety and freedom in order to stand up against a government and a community that does not grant them equal rights to those of men should be the heroins the rest of the world looks to support. This is not about American secularism, or about Islam, or about the greedy capitalists. This is about women having equal rights and freedoms as men so that they can be masters of their own lives, health, education, faith, etc.. The Quran supports this equality so why should humans pervert it?
Shannon, I would love to post a blog about Mountain2Mountain for our readers and supporters on http://womensvoicesnow.org/blog.
For the rest of the readers and commenters here, please read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qanta-ahmed/the-womens-voices-now-fil_b_748714.html for a more in-depth discussion on the expansion of women's rights in the Muslim world and what one organization is doing to support the movement.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan is being primed for exploitation by American companies hungry to extract the trillions of dollars worth of resources and to transport them to build up India to become the regional superpower that will serve American interests.
But the truth of these plans are seeing the light of day.
American social engineers of the American empire can celebrate themselves as they like, but the worship of Western Man and Woman will come to an end.
it is not USA control freaks which can do it ; no doubt american control freaks are preferable to taliban control freaks
to make liberal candidate smore acceptible to people , the CIA must clearly state it is not interfering in party politics like it has done in so many countries; 79 nations have american troops stationed in them and that means the state department wants to control their politics
strictly speaking it isnt old men with guns which caused afghanis problems; it is foreighners [ the cold war civil war between left and right in every country ]
afghanistan's 1923 constitution said free education for all .. to americans [ and IMF ] that sounds like communism
i hope the enlightened and relatively stress free in afghanland will incorporate " consciousness -based education " CBE (tm) into schools
and i hope Sabrina advocates bringing 1 000 000 ? voluntary exiles back into the country
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judith-orloff-md/how-to-deal-with-a-contro_b_745937.html
i am afraid you are using a story which is five years old: sabrina saqeb has been a 25-year old candidate in the 2005 parliamentary lections but she is not running this year. she went abroad to study.
best regards from kabul
thomas ruttig, co-director of the afghanistan analysts network
for up-to-date info, please check our afghan election blog under www.aan-afghanistan.org
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/17/afghanistan.declanwalsh
hmh, I'm not sure what's going on. does this work?