NEW YORK (TURKISH JOURNAL) – Nishat Mirza- The sun rose with all its capabilities to light up Kabul in Afghanistan, however, sunlight couldn’t eliminate the fear and anxiety of young women and girls, who slept through nightmares once the Taliban took over their beloved city.
The fall of Kabul without a fight, asking young girls who are trapped inside the capital of Afghanistan with their families.
In 6 days, Kabul has been taken over, 83 billion dollars spent by the United States in building the Afghan military and police forces, they couldn’t even stand against the Taliban; the Taliban took over Kabul in less than a week.
A young girl from Kabul is asking, what was the purpose of two decades of the fight?
It’s such a tragic and complicated situation. Young women and girls are holding their breaths with anxiety and worries thinking if Afghanistan will go back to the way it was two decades ago.
Taliban who fought with the US and the Afghan government, created chaos when they were in power in the late 1990s. A 22-year old, Afghani young woman, asked to remain anonymous, is trapped with her family and siblings in Kabul along with other family members. She is the oldest of seven children. She grew up in Kabul after she was born in the late 1990s.
During that time, the Taliban was in charge of the country, they used to rule the country in a way that was very brutal, arms of thieves would be completely cut out if they were caught stealing. Women were not allowed to go out of the house without wearing a hijab or head covering. Women were only allowed to leave the house with male family members; fathers, brothers, or husbands.
The Afghani women are worried about going backward to the same brutal regime. From 1996 to 2011 ‘Taliban Law’ was the law of the land in Afghanistan, women had to cover their entire body as well as their face. In the last two decades women’s rights have progressed, girls were able to go to school with male peers and male teachers. They were able to play soccer and participate in all activities boys would. Women were able to go to universities and take part in the Afghan government.
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, urged the international community and the Taliban to unite to protect girls rights, saying “I am particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan who fear a return to the darkest days. It is essential that the hard-won rights of Afghan women and girls are protected.”
Our eyewitness from Kabul who talked to Turkish Journal says she used to attend Kardan University with male classmates, which may not be possible any longer. Since the ‘Taliban Law’ only allows women to attend school with other female counterparts, teachers and university professors have to be women as well. Her education halted when the Taliban was progressing toward Kabul in the last few weeks, by bombing and fighting on campus. Her life changed overnight.
Although the Taliban declared after coming to power, that they will protect women’s rights and freedom of the press, Afghans are still very skeptical. So far, women and journalists have been beaten in the streets of Kabul. Famous journalist Yama Siawash was killed recently on November 7, 2020, in a targeted explosion in Kabul.
As of Wednesday, August 19th, several protests have been held to keep laws of the state in protecting women rights, the gathering was dispersed by the Taliban.
It seems the Taliban wants to change everything in Afghanistan, including the country’s flag. Men and women gathered to protest against changing the Afghan flag to the Taliban flag. Still uncertain if the new regime will listen to even the simplest requests of the people.
The sun will rise and set every day in Kabul, however, only time will tell how the progressive youth will be treated, especially women.
