Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been in a constant state of chaos for twenty years. The Soviets invaded in 1979 and installed a puppet regime. After they withdrew their troops in 1989, rival mujahideen (tribal) groups began to fight for the capital. By the time the Taliban came into the picture around 1994, the country had been devastated by war. Many Afghanis had fled to neighboring countries like Pakistan. An estimated 1 million lives had been lost. Now, bad conditions still persist. Afghanistan has one of the world's worst literacy rates; only three percent of women and less then twenty percent of men can read and write (Rashid, 107). A quarter of all children die before their fifth birthday. Life expectancy is only 43-44 years (107). Simply, life is hard, especially for women.

Women have been caught in the middle of powerful governments fighting for control. The issue of their emancipation is not religious or cultural. It is political. To understand the struggle of women, we must consider their socioeconomic history, the qualities of the Taliban, and the reactions of outside groups to the fate of Afghani women.

The leaders of Afghan government have consistently worked to reform women's rights. For the past century, emancipation for women has been an essential part of the image of the nation. Amir Habibullah, who ruled from 1901 to 1919, stressed that women should have a role in society beyond motherhood (Dupree, 307). Mahmud Beg Tarzi (1865-1933), a leading reformer of the time argued for education of women. He believed that intellectual women in the home would lead to stronger sense of family and nation. He constantly spoke of the egalitarian Islam, one that does not deny women the right to knowledge (Dupree, 306-307). ...

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... interfere presents theories of cultural relativism and activism. The Taliban's suppression of women stimulates their goal. The West fights for women in the name of democracy for their own success. And where does this leave women? They are trapped in a spinning ball being thrown violently back and forth between opposing teams. No matter what they do to puncture that suppression, it persists. They are flung, spun, and shot in different directions in a battle to win control. Whether universal human rights exist or not, they are stuck in a pressured vacuum. Perhaps, one of these teams will realize that a respect for the ball will fuel their success. When a partnership is finally established between political powers and the female population of Afghanistan, women will be able to take effective leaps toward their freedom. Until then, they are caught hopelessly bouncing.