Let down by US and facing uncertain future; Vulnerable Afghan women demand resettlement

New Delhi, August 26: After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, women and children feel they face an uncertain future there. More than 400 Afghanis including women and children held a demonstration outside New Delhi office of United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNCHR) and demanded  `resettlement in a third country’ apart from Pakistan. The demonstration started at 11 am and continued till night.

For women in Afghanistan, life is completely different in villages and cities. In the country’s hinterland, there might hardly be a change for the women because in the rural areas their freedom is under the control of male members of the family. However, the change of power would certainly impact the lives of those living in the urban areas, particularly those who were working in the government offices or those who ran their business.

Keeping these concerns in mind many experts, strategists and diplomats have suggested the international community to engage with the Taliban government on this.

In context of following Islamic laws, especially in relation to women, the interpretations have been different by different ruling groups. Pointing this out, Abeda Ahadi, who fled to India recently told this correspondent at the venue of demonstration, “They've been saying this for a long time, and they haven't elaborated on what that reading is. There are wide interpretations of what that could mean. Back in the 1990s, it meant that women couldn't receive education or healthcare. In other countries that also follow Islamic law, women are accorded more rights. And so, many women are feeling worst at the moment in Afghanistan, and that's very understandable.” Abeda initially was apprehensive of disclosing her identity, as it could harm her family back in Afghanistan.

Following the installation of the government after the US invasion, which was lenient towards women’s rights, thousands of women had built thriving and prosperous lives for themselves. However, with the US deserting the country and the fall of Kabul, they now fear for their lives, mainly due to them being outspoken against the militancy of Taliban.

Anarkali Kaur Honaryar, a lawmaker in the Afghanistan parliament till Taliban entered Kabul and was among those airlifted by India, is worried about the future of her country’s women and children. To the waiting media at Delhi airport she said, “We appeal to the Indian government to rescue all those people stranded in Afghanistan. We have no trust in Taliban.”

Nilofar Ayoubi is one of thousands of women who have been working as a successful businesswoman in Kabul, and is now faced with an uncertain future for self and family as well as their thriving business in Kabul.

At the time of US invasion of Afghanistan, the United States had promised that the rights of Afghan women would be a cornerstone of any peace pact with the Taliban. That commitment made by United States now falls flat, as with the advent of Taliban in Kabul, that for women like Nilofar, fighting for their rights has now fallen upon themselves. Nilofar feels that the common people of Afghanistan who had wholeheartedly supported the US invasion of their country now feel betrayed as the US and the allied forces have left them in a lurch.

Women like Nilofar have been left scrambling to find a way out of the country. Some of her friends have made it out of Afghanistan. However, there are many women who are now living in fear inside the country, as the Taliban have launched a door-to-door campaign to catch women with progressive thoughts and lifestyles.

"Once the Taliban enter Kabul, they will burn down everything we have built-in these 20 years after the US invaded Afghanistan. With this thought when I looked around, I wondered, what could I take with me? My three children and maybe some clothes,” says Nilofar Ayoubi, who shared her ordeal with media persons from an undisclosed location inside Afghanistan.

The return of Taliban to power in Afghanistan has sent shockwaves worldwide, particularly to the neighbouring South Asian countries, as the citizens here are apprehensive of the fall out of this shift of power. The rise of the Taliban will give Pakistan the strategic strength that the latter has always sought.

An Afghan woman who had joined the military a decade ago is now terrified that she might be kidnapped, raped or even killed for being a soldier under the earlier regime.

While sharing her story with this reporter, Marium, an Afghan woman who fled to India along with her family said, “I don’t want to be owned by anyone. I want to stand on my own.”

“I love my country and we are the next generation of Afghans taking a step into the modern world. But now after the Taliban has usurped power and the US have left, me a mother of two is now frightened for my safety,” Marium added further.

Serious concerns for their children’s future was clearly visible on their faces, also because of the fact that as they had brought their children along; those little boys and girls whom they want admitted in schools, but are unable to do so because they do not have Aadhar cards in India. “I am worried about my small children’s education. We want the UN to resettle us in any third country so that our children could get proper education,” said Meena Omeri.

Other displaced women like Parveen, Rohina and Sharifa also backed Omeri’s view saying that they know, it is not possible for the Indian government, to resettle such a large number of refugees. We appeal to the UN to resettle us in a third country like Canada or such countries.

A young girl whose mother was also a victim did not want to disclose her identity as one of her family members had joined Taliban. Fear was clearly visible on the girl's face.

Some experts and policymakers who have been closely watching the activities in Afghanistan since the US and its allies had walked in, are hoping that the Taliban’s need to have international legitimacy and access to financial resources will mean that they will turn moderate in giving women more rights, as per western standards. These experts and watchdogs are keeping a close watch on the actions of Taliban.

In most Afghan cities and towns, there is little knowledge about who is a Taliban or their spy, as it has been a very secretive organization for a very long time.

Also, in absence of any indication of how the government is to be organized, the situation is extremely disconcerting. Particularly for women and girls who don't know who will take decisions in the new government, whether it will be the moderates or the hardliners. So far, the only thing that is known about women’s rights is that they plan to give them all the rights within the limits of Islam and Sharia.