President Karzai and the 'secondary' sex
By Rachel Reid
Friday, March 9, 2012 - 4:32 PM
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The Afghan government was "too busy" for International Women's Day on March 8, so it postponed official acknowledgement until the 11th. It was not a great moment to celebrate, anyway. A week earlier a council of religious scholars -- the Ulema Council -- published guidance that declared "men are fundamental and women are secondary." It called for women to travel with mahrams (male escorts), and to avoid mixing with men in offices, markets and educational facilities. The statement also said that beating a woman is only permissible with a "Shariah-compliant reason."
The Council's edicts have no legal standing, and were not unprecedented from this conservative body. What was more troubling was that the Office of the President published the statement, and President Hamid Karzai appeared to endorse it, by telling reporters that it was "in accordance with a Sharia view of our country, which all Muslims and Afghans are committed to." With women activists already anxious about the potential impact of deals with the Taliban, Karzai's words served as a sobering reminder of his poor track record on women's rights.
Concerns about the impact of a deal with the Taliban on women's rights are often dismissed with assertions that Taliban views on women are not so different from many in the government. This statement by the Ulema Council supports that viewpoint, and you'd certainly find a few former warlords nodding in agreement with it in the Cabinet and parliament.
But the conservatives in government have, for the most part, grudgingly accepted the presence of women in political life. The current environment may be hostile to women, but activists have been able to negotiate significant victories. Last year, when conservatives in government tried to take over women's shelters, women activists fought back and won. In 2010 parliamentarians and activists successfully stymied some egregious articles in a bill to regulate family law for Shia Muslims. The year before that they succeeded in pushing through a law on violence against women which made the crime of rape explicit for the first time. Progress may be slow, but it is steady, and often heroic.
Some who speak regularly to Talibs say they have become more progressive when it comes to things like women's access to education. One source admits, though, that many Talibs would still oppose the presence of women in the workplace and in politics.
Taliban hostility to women's presence in public life often came up in work I carried out in 2010, interviewing women living in de facto Taliban controlled areas, and gathering "night letters" - threat letters delivered under cover of darkness. Fatima K., (a pseudonym), lives in a southern province, where she received this letter from the Taliban in February 2010:
"We Taliban warn you to stop working otherwise we will take your life away. We will kill you in such a harsh way that no woman has so far been killed in that manner. This will be a good lesson for those women like you who are working."
Fatima K. left her job. Others choose to ignore the threats. When Hossai, a 22- year-old Afghan aid worker in the southern city of Kandahar, received threatening phone calls from a man who said he was with the Taliban, she didn't believe it. The man had told her to stop working with foreigners. But Hossai didn't want to give up a good job with an American development company, Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI). Within weeks Hossai was dead. On April 13, 2010, a gunman lay in wait for her when she left the office. She was shot multiple times and died the next day.
Days after Hossai's killing, another young woman working in Kandahar, Nadia N. (a pseudonym), received a letter signed by the Taliban, which threatened her with death:
"We would warn you today on behalf of the Servants of Islam to stop working with infidels. We always know when you are working. If you continue, you will be considered an enemy of Islam and will be killed. In the same way that yesterday we have killed Hossai, whose name was on our list, your name and other women's names are also our list."
These letters are reminders that it may not be right to treat the Taliban as just another set of conservatives. Their views on women may overlap with a significant segment of opinion in Afghanistan, but the Taliban are also a force which has become used to imposing their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam with violence and fear.
To express concern about the possible impact of deals with the Taliban sometimes opens you up to glib accusations that you are ‘pro-war' or ‘anti-peace.' In fact, there is no contradiction in wanting to see an end to the devastating loss of life in the conflict, welcoming a search for a political solution, while simultaneously expressing concerns about potential pitfalls and costs.
Sadly, there are many reasons to be wary at present. The Afghan government seems to lack the credibility or vision to forge a just and inclusive peace deal. And as the president's response to the Ulema Council statement illustrated, he seems unlikely to take a stand against religious conservatives in defense of women's rights. Meanwhile, it is far from clear that the Taliban have the will or the ability to forge a lasting deal, or that they would be prepared to meet the government's precondition of recognizing a (man-made) constitution with all that it enshrines, including women's equality, democracy and freedom of expression.
After the Ulema Council published their statement, I spoke with several women's rights activists in Kabul. They were dismayed, but immediately turned to strategizing about the most pragmatic means of responding. Afghanistan now has a generation of women activists who have earned a quiet confidence born of successive achievements. But if a deal with the Taliban is to avoid dramatically shrinking their space, it will require leadership from a president with the courage to recognize them as his equals.
Rachel Reid is Senior Policy Advisor on Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Open Society Foundations. More of the "night letters" referred to here are also featured in an essay by Reid in a book published this week: "The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women's Rights" (Seven Stories Press).
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these very same killers will be emboldened (while still supported by their Masters in the ISI) to continue imposing their view of Islam on the women and innocent folk in Afghanistan - pretty much as it is today (except that now they have to actually perform their acts from hiding.)
At first they came for the Afghan women and children.. then they came for the 2000 in the WTC.
We are about to watch history repeat itself...
with your head up your backside again Dr. Kuchbhi? Told you not to that. Marty Martel has the same problem. Are you neighbours/related?
the nightly letters threatening women. Was it really the Taliban?
All states play dirty games, in the name of national interest, but no one plays a dirtier game then the CIA/MOSSAD. This is more apparent in Afghanistan than it was in Iraq where the ( so called) end-games is in progress.
GAME was MADE DIRTIER when CIA-MOSSAD nexus was expanded and space created for India's intelligence agency RAW.
RAW only objective in life is to create instability in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other smaller countries in the region so as to create the longed for Indian hegemony.
How do we know that these letters were not written by such an agency as party of their filty game-plan?
(Disclaimer: Comments not to be construed as defence of Taliban. )
in Afghanistan must be understood clearly.
1. To destabilise Pakistan
2. create a wedge between the Afghans and Pakistani. Most of the Afghans have grown up in and were educated in Pakistan.
Who helps India:
1. USA because it wants to a counter-weight in the region against China
2. Israel because it needs a foothold in the region against Pakistan and Iran
Rachel Reid, presumably a woman ...
... does indeed present an argument from pulling out of Afghanistan by the end of the month. The three main arguments for staying longer are that when the foreigners leave, al-Qaeda will return; the Taliban are trained killers; the Taliban think Afghan women should be subservient to men's religious ideas.
Nobody really knows what plans al-Qaeda has for Afghanistan, or whether it could execute them; nobody is training more killers in Afghanistan than ISAF; and, the Ulema Council makes clear, men with a high opinion of their relationship with God all seem to think much the same about women in Afghanistan, whether Taliban or not.
So why stay there?
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Maybe Karzai takes his cues from the U.S. re: women
For the most part, our national leadership in both political parties is indifferent toward women - especially the Republicans, who even fear the ignorant Rush Limbaugh.
Many of our service men have hardly been role models as they routinely raped and/or sexually harassed thousands of their fellow service women, many in war zones. (A recent class action suit, reported last week, underscores this, as does the recent announcement by Panetta that the Pentagon is "looking into" ways to stem the violence against service women.)
Military leaders at the highest levels have routinely ignored these acts of violence against women serving in the military. Well, as long as U.S. presidents appoint one internationally power woman per administration to be the "front lady," I guess that's just good enough. Right?
H.E. Hamed Karzai is the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He was sworn into office on December 7, 2004. In an unprecedented chapter in Afghan history, the President was elected by the people on October 9, 2004.
H.E. President Karzai previously served as the Chairman of the Afghan Interim Adminstration. Initially, he was sworn into the Interim Administration during a ceremony on December 22, 2001 in Kabul. He had been chosen by the successful assembly of various Afghan groups in Bonn as the undisputed figure to lead Afghanistan during its precarious transition. Per the Bonn Agreement, the power of the Interim Authority was transferred over to the Transitional Government on 19 June 2002 by 1,500 participants during the Emergency Loya Jirga, which again elected Hamed Karzai as the President until the elections.
A steadfast figure in the liberation of Afghanistan, President Karzai always sought to remain close to his homeland. In the summer of 2001, his plan to relocate inside Afghanistan and to organize active resistance against the Taliban paid off in October 2001, when he helped liberate the province of Oruzgan. As the international coalition mounted its campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, President Karzai exerted his influence to bring the complete demise of the Taliban in the south.
Born on 24 December 1957 in Karz, Kandahar, Hamed Karzai attended Habibia High School in Kabul. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations from Shimla University, India.
In 1982, Hamed Karzai joined the Afghan National Liberation Front and served as its south-western director of operations. After completing journalism courses in Lille, France in 1985, he became the Front’s Director of Information. Two years later, he headed the Front’s Political Department.
In 1992, Hamed Karzai served as the Deputy Foreign Minister of the newly-established Government, which he left after fighting escalated in Kabul in 1994. Earlier, he had served as the liaison for foreign affairs of the Peshawar-based Afghan Interim Government, a coalition of resistance organizations.
From 1994 on, he attempted to rid Kandahar of warlordism and internecine infighting, but eventually was discouraged by the rise of the Taliban as the movement relied on foreign influence and resources and tilted toward fanaticism.
Between 1995-2000, Hamed Karzai dedicated himself to convene a Loya Jirga, and sought the Good Offices of His Majesty, Mohammed Zaher Shah, former Afghan Monarch and traveled the world over. He held meetings with officials from the United Nations, the European Union, the “Group of Six-plus-Two” and others interested in the Afghan crisis. In the course of his efforts, the Taliban assassinated his father, the late Abdul Ahad Karzai in 2000 in Quetta, Pakistan, who was a prominent member of the Afghan parliament before the war.
President Hamed Karzai was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal (July 2004), International Republican Institute’s Freedom Award (February 2003), International Rescue Committee’s Freedom Award (November 2002) and the President’s Medal from Georgetown University (January 2002). He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2003.
He is married to Dr. Zenat Karzai, an Afghan physician, and speaks English, French, Urdu in addition to national languages of Afghanistan.
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I don't know that our foreign policy would change in large measure. I imagine we would be brought back to the superpower status we have enjoyed and taken for granted forever.Our bark would be more menacing than it is currently, eliminating the need to bite if necessary. Imposed sanctions would have more of an effect, and taking the lead to scale down our nuclear programs might be met with more enthusiasm. Intermediary positions during negotiations between other countries like Palestine and Israel and human rights issues in third world countries could be met with less contention, coming from a country that not only says it, but lives it. Until we get our own affairs in order, it's condescending and hypocritical for use to preach that which we don't do..
"Is rio orange war always forfait mobile inevitable ?"
MaximB
n 1982, Hamed Karzai joined the Afghan National Liberation Front and served as its south-western director of operations. After completing journalism courses in Lille, France in 1985, he.Haber became the Front’s Director of Information. Two years later, he headed the Front’s Political Department.
In 1992, Hamed Karzai served as the Deputy Foreign Minister of the newly-established .HaberGovernment, which he left after fighting escalated in Kabul in 1994. Earlier, he had served as the liaison for foreign affairs of the Peshawar-based Afghan Interim Government, a coalition of resistance organizations.Haber
Let's get this straight. Are we talking about Obama? Then we are interested and scrutinizing, which is great. I am still voting for Obama. You are making my case..
"Is rio orange war always forfait sosh inevitable ?"
MaximB
Nobody really knows what plans al-Qaeda has for Afghanistan, or whether it could execute them; nobody is training more killers in Afghanistan than ISAF; and, the Ulema Council makes clear, men with a high opinion rainboots of their relationship with God all seem to think much the same about women in Afghanistan, whether Taliban or not.
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