Afghan women speak up: Ever since the Taliban has captured Kabul, women have been living under constant fear. They are reminded of the dreadful life between 1996 to 2001 before the invasion of the US.
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Though the militants have agreed to give women the rights according to the "sharia law", there is no denying that the turmoil is going from bad to worse in the country. Amidst the trouble, Afghan women speak up for their rights and urge the neighbouring countries to help them.
20 prominent Afghan women speak up
1. Sahraa Karimi, Filmmaker
Sahraa Karimi is Afghanistan's first female director-general of state-run Afghan Film. Despite the state of hostility, she has no plans of leaving her country. "Taliban surrounded Kabul, I were to bank to get some money, they closed and evacuated; I still cannot believe this happened, who did happen. Please pray for us, I am calling again: Hey ppl of the this big world, please do not be silent, they are coming to kill us," she said in a tweet.
Taliban surrounded Kabul, I were to bank to get some money, they closed and evacuated;
I still cannot believe this happened, who did happen.
Please pray for us, I am calling again:
Hey ppl of the this big world, please do not be silent , they are coming to kill us. pic.twitter.com/wIytLL3ZNu
"The people living in Afghanistan need jobs, they need work, they need to survive. I always gave a commitment to my country to be there for it. This is the time that I have to be here for my people," Kamila Sidiqi said to Time.
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3. Wazhma Frogh, Co-founder, Women and Peace Studies
"It is very complicated; you feel guilty because of the fact that I have had the opportunity to save my life that ten or a hundred or a thousand other women didn’t have. But at the same time the chance that I am able to raise their voices makes it mean something. There is this expectation that activists need to sacrifice their lives and know that if they are killed there will be a vigil in their names. But I don’t want to be a vigil, I want to be a help to all those people who stood by me," Frogh told the Time.
4. Nargis Nehan, Founder and Executive Director of EQUALITY for Peace and Democracy
Nargis Nehan revealed to Time, "I have dedicated my life to this work, and I love what I do trying to raise the voice of those that are voiceless. If I have helped someone, that means more to me than having a comfortable day, so that is why I am staying here. This is the hardest time—if anyone is committed to trying to make a difference for women and girls, then this is the time."
5. Aaisha, Journalist (name changed)
"For many years, I worked as a journalist … to raise the voice of Afghans, especially Afghan women, but now our identity is being destroyed and nothing has been done by us to deserve this. In the last 24 hours, our lives have changed and we have been confined to our homes, and death threatens us at every moment. We see silence filled with fear of the Taliban around us," Aaisha said to The Guardian.
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6. Fereyba, Journalist (name changed)
"I was outside of the home, and I just got a call from my brother saying ‘Where are you? You have to go home right now.’ And it was very scary. You cannot imagine the picture of the people and the eyes, and the faces and expressions," Fereyba revealed to The Guardian. She further said that there were reports of women and girls being beaten, forcibly taken as wives and raped. She panicked that she could soon meet the same fate. "Firstly I am worried about myself because I am a girl, and also a woman journalist. In provinces they took some girls for themselves and used them as slaves," she added.
7. Zeyba, Journalist (name changed)
Zeyba told The Guardian that since she works for one of Afghanistan's largest media networks, the Talibans would show no mercy to her or her husband and children. She added that she along with other journalists were trying to send their identity documentation and work to embassies before destroying all traces of their existence, physically as well as online.
8. Anonymous Afghan woman
"I did not expect that we would be deprived of all our basic rights again and travel back to 20 years ago. That after 20 years of fighting for our rights and freedom, we should be hunting for burqas and hiding our identity," wrote an Anonymous Afghan woman.
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9. Zarmina Kakar, Women's Rights Activist
"I am currently in Afghanistan and I am worried about my vague future. I have been a fierce critic of the Taliban and I do not know what my future will be like in Afghanistan – whether I will survive or not," Zarmina Kakar said to SheThePeople
10. Aaila, Student
With the increasing fear among Afghani women, the prices of Burqas have risen. Aaila revealed to The Guardian, "Last year these burqas cost AFS 200. Now they’re trying to sell them to us for AFS 2,000 to 3,000."
11. Fatimah, Artist and Fashion Photographer
Remembering the times before Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Fatimah told The Guardian, "Afghan women are some of the most naturally stylish women in the world. When you go on to the streets of Kabul today you see this amazing mix of different fabrics and nods to centuries-old traditions mixed with very modern styles and inspirations. It’s this beautiful, creative spirit that was just full of hope for the future."
12. Rada Akbar, Artist
"If there’s anything we can learn from the history of women's struggles in Afghanistan and in the region, it is that even the most oppressive regimes were not able to poison the seeds of rebellion and freedom that grow in our hearts. We’ll not go back. We will not submit to the boundaries others create for us. We will not be silent," Rada Akbar wrote in June this year as a caption under a picture on Instagram.
13. Miriam
"My husband asked me to change the type of clothes I wear, and to start wearing the burqa so that the Taliban will pay less attention to me if I am outside," the young woman said to The Guardian.
14. Habiba, Student
"My mother says we should buy a burqa. My parents are afraid of the Taliban. My mother thinks that one of the ways she can protect her daughters is to make them wear the burqa. But we have no burqa in our home, and I have no intention of getting one. I don’t want to hide behind a curtain-like cloth," Habiba expressed to The Guardian.
She further said, "If I wear the burqa, it means that I have accepted the Taliban’s government. I have given them the right to control me. Wearing a chador is the beginning of my sentence as a prisoner in my house. I’m afraid of losing the accomplishments I fought for so hard."
Finally, the student added, "I stay up late at night, sometimes till one or two in the morning, worrying about what will happen. I am afraid that because I am rejecting the burqa, soon I will have to stay at home and I will lose my independence and freedom. But if I accept the burqa, it will exercise power over me. I am not ready to let that happen."
15. Amul, Model and Designer
Talking to The Guardian, the model cum designer said, "My whole life has been about trying to show the beauty, diversity and creativity of Afghan women." She has fought the image of the Afghan woman as a faceless figure in a blue burqa all her life. Amul continued, "I never thought I would wear one (burqa) but now I don't know. It's like my identity is about to be scrubbed out."
16. Shamsia Hassani, Artist
"I never understood who you are and why you don’t want us to live in peace. Talib? ISIS? Or... Let us make peace. I want my country, my home back. I want peace and freedom for my people," the artist tweeted on July 21 along with an artwork of hers.
I never understood who you are and why you don’t want us to live in peace. Talib? ISIS? Or...
Let us make peace. I want my country, my home back. I want peace and freedom for my people.
17. Pashtana Zalmai Khan Durrani, Executive Director at LEARN, NGO
"I see interviews by Taliban leaders who say they will respect women’s rights. They are so vague about it. They say they will let girls study. What kind of education? Islamic studies or other learning? And what about working? These are things they need to give us answers to. We need assurance on the educational, political and social rights of women," Durrani said in an interaction with SheThePeople.
18. Fareeba Hakimi, Afghan woman living in India
Fareeba Hakimi fled Afghanistan four years ago with two daughters. She said to NDTV that one of her daughters was sold to the Taliban at the age of 10. Ever since she came to India, she has been receiving death threats from the organisation. She added that due to the pandemic, there is no work in India and the Afghanis are suffering.
19. Anonymous Afghan woman
"I can't believe the world has abandoned Afghanistan. Our friends are going to get killed. They are going to kill us. Our women are not going to have any more rights," the woman said to India Today.
20. Khadija, Head of a religious school for girls in Afghanistan
"Times have changed. The Taliban are aware they can't silence us, and if they shut down the internet the world will know in less than five minutes. They will have to accept who we are and what we have become," Khadija said to Reuters.
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