Brave, mostly young, Afghan women dared to rise and march against the new Shiite law only to be verbally accosted by young Afghan men calling them "whores" and un-Islamic. One of the powerful clerics, Muhammad Hussein Jafaari, stated that they didn't want foreign powers interfering with Afghanistan's domestic policies. Funny, wasn't it foreign powers that saved Afghanistan from the clutches of the Talibans?
Regardless, the law had more clauses such as women aren't allowed to leave the home or attend school without their husband's or father's permissions, and they cannot refuse to adorn themselves if ordained by their husbands. Effectively, this law, renders women rights obsolete. Just as one of the young marchers noted in NY Times, they become mere properties.
Considering Hamid Karzai is so beloved by the US, it is deeply troubling that enough pressure isn't being enforced to efface such a law.
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3 comments:
you cant teach an old dog new tricks. ironic isnt it? new president, new beginning but they're going back to their old taliban fundy ways. While i was working at Cleary in NYC, I met some lawyers who were going to Afghanistan on a project - to help judges rethink all their notions of gender, the law and womens' rights. Human rights is sadly still so subjective. It will need more than just an american push. it needs a push from muslim countries as well. I think our country is headed the same way, so its great that people like you are taking the time to put your thoughts out there. I guess the question is, how do we mobilize communities to actively take a stand in protecting our own interests, as well as the interests of others in countries so far away! the people who can and will read this blog are already part of a small literate minority. We need to find away to communicate thoughts and perspective to a much wider audience. ..but this is a great way to start.
I forgot to include - a small and literate minority who probably feel the same way as us!
Good points Ali! You're right sadly that only a small percentage of the Bangladesh population are interested in issues such as these. But besides blogging and writing in the newspapers, what other ways can information be disseminated to the greater public? In the end, I suppose small steps in the right direction will eventually lead to the destination.
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