Afghan Women Fear a Return of Taliban, Though Few Remember Its Rule

 

Two yellow burqas hang at a television station in Kabul, Afghanistan. They are bright versions of the full-coverage clothing some women in the capital still wear. For some of the women working at Zan TV, they are a sign of a Taliban-ruled past that few of them can remember.

The United States and Taliban leaders continue to negotiate an end to America's longest war. Women have demanded representation in the talks. They worry about losing the gains they have made during the last 20 years.

Shogofa Sadiqi is Zan TV's chief director. She is 25 years old.

"For me, I will not submit myself to the Taliban," she said. She believes the group will have less power as it faces a new generation. She described the burqas as a sign of the struggles women have faced over the years. She has never worn one. "I don't like it," she said in English.

Most too young to remember Taliban rule

About two-thirds of Afghanistan's population is 25 or younger. These young people have little or no memory of life before 2001. That year, the United States led an invasion of the country, which had sheltered al-Qaida and its leader Osama bin¹ Laden². The Taliban also established a severe form of Islamic law that oppressed women.

Now, a young generation watches as U.S. diplomat³ Zalmay Khalilzad negotiates a troop withdrawal⁴. In return, the U.S. wants the Taliban to cut ties with al-Qaida and promise to resist terror groups. With talks centered on security, little else is guaranteed. Few know what the Taliban thinks or what it will do as international forces leave.

The Taliban now controls about half of Afghanistan. With its position stronger than ever, it has rejected negotiations⁵ with the Afghan government.

The U.S. says Afghans themselves will have to decide on issues such as women's rights in the country.

The rise of Afghan women

Karishma Naz finds this position unsettling. The 23-year-old presents music on Zan in the Dari language. Naz said she suspects the Taliban has not changed its beliefs. She said she thinks the group will force women like her to stop working and stay home.

"Why are there no women to represent and defend us?" Naz asked, worried about losing her career as a television presenter⁶.

Her generation has seen Afghan women become street artists, business leaders and winners on the televised talent show "Afghan Star." Her generation also has watched a woman gain a seat on the country’s highest court.

Young Afghan women have formed an all-female orchestra and competed in the Olympics. A woman opened the country's first yoga center and another leads the government’s film production company.

Little change in Taliban-strong areas

Afghanistan’s 2004 constitution provides equal rights for women and men. However, women in the country still face unfair treatment from conservative relatives, community members and even strangers. A bill criminalizing violence against women remains⁷ unpassed.

Little has changed in Taliban-controlled areas. The group has agreed that girls can be educated and work in politics and the judiciary. However, it bars females from serving as president or chief justice.

A report last year by the Overseas Development Institute says researchers “could not identify a single girls' secondary school open in an area of heavy Taliban influence or control." The study questioned more than 160 Taliban fighters, officials and civilians⁸ in seven of the country's 34 provinces.

'We will have no voice'

Parliament member Maryam Sama said much remains to be done even in areas under government control. About half of all girls in Afghanistan still do not attend school. More than half are married before age 19 and violence in families is widespread.

"But if we turn into an Islamic emirate we will have no voice," Sama said, using the Taliban's name for its kind of government. "If anything happens in Afghanistan, if anything goes wrong, all the responsibility goes back to the United States and the people” negotiating right now.

Former lawmaker Fawzia Koofi is one of the few women who spoke⁹ with Taliban leaders during the talks this year in Moscow and Qatar.

Taliban representatives told her they regretted many things that had happened. They told her women were forced to stay at home because of the insecurity at the time. She did not believe the claims.

The group still does not support women's rights as recognized in international guidelines. A Taliban statement at the Moscow talks said the group is committed to women's rights within the structure of Islam "and then Afghan tradition." The statement also criticized immorality¹⁰ and indecency "under the name of women's rights."

"I think the new generation of people in Afghanistan will not be able to accept this” position, Koofi said.

She told the Taliban that a girl born in the final months of their rule would now be 18. "She knows how to use all the technology and the opportunities of the world," Koofi remembered saying, "and if you try to oppress her or deprive her of her rights, definitely she will use her abilities to inform the world."

I'm Caty Weaver¹¹.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

defiant¹² – adj. refusing to obey something or someone?

submit – v. to stop trying to fight or resist something: to agree to do or accept something that you have been resisting or opposing?

orchestra – n. a group of musicians who play usually classical music together and who are led by a conductor?

yoga – n. a system of exercises for mental and physical health?

indecency – n. behavior that is morally or sexually offensive?

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done?

deprive – v. to take something away from someone or something : to not allow (someone or something) to have or keep (something)

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 immorality   

n. 不道德, 无道义

参考例句：

• All the churchmen have preached against immorality. 所有牧师都讲道反对不道德的行为。
• Where the European sees immorality and lawlessness, strict law rules in reality. 在欧洲人视为不道德和无规则的地方，事实上都盛行着一种严格的规则。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

11 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

12 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。