The sounds of horses galloping are everywhere, the groaning of the wounded, helpless retreating warriors, cannon explosions… The smell of dust and blood in the air is so high one cannot even breathe. The date is July 27, 1880, and the Afghans are in despair as they may be defeated by the British colonialists in the Maiwand battle during the Second Afghan-British War.
At 19, an Afghan girl, Malalai, who brought drinking water to the fighters, along with other women taking care of the wounded, looked desperately back at the fighters. Then she sees that the flag bearer has been killed and the red flag has fallen to the ground, she goes forward and picks up the flag and lifts it up into the mountains and screams:
“Young Lover! Who has not fallen in the battle of Maiwand,
Allah will testify that this will live as a monument of shame!”
Most people, however, translate her words: “Living a day like a lion is better than living like a slave for hundreds of years!”
Malalai encouraged Afghan fighters, was shot and killed, but led to a great victory for the Afghan army. Even today, the Afghans proudly mention that they have beaten the British colonialists three times with almost bare hands.
After 1919, under the leadership of young and progressive King Emanullah Khan, Afghanistan became a golden age for Afghan women, when it gained independence from the Kingdom of Britain.
Princess Süreyya, the wife of the king, (24 October 1899- 20 April 1968) helped to establish the first women’s headscarf in public spaces, the first girls’ school Mastorat High School and the first women’s newspaper Irşad ul Nisvan (Irshad-ul-Naswan). She played a vital role. A group of young girls were sent abroad for higher education. On the eve of the seventh anniversary of independence, she said:
“We women must strive for the advancement of our nation, and this is not possible without education. Unfortunately, this period was short, and in the next decade Habibullah Kalakani, an ignorant robber, seized the reins with the support of the British Empire. And everything about women’s freedom is restricted. We call him the Father Taliban.”
With the invasion of Afghanistan by Russian troops in 1978 and the introduction of puppet regimes, a dark period began for Afghan women. While the Russian puppet regime objectifies women under the guise of women’s freedom, the fundamentalists inspired by the Egyptian Muslims, saw the support of the US-Nato countries, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, restricting all kinds of women’s freedom. The woman was restricted to being half a man and as a tool for the man’s lust.
The Revolutionary Afghan Women’s Association (RAWA), the first independent social and political organization fighting for the human rights and social justice of Afghan women, was created in 1977 in Kabul.
RAWA was founded by a group of Afghan women, led by Meena (February 27, 1956 – February 4, 1987). At the age of 21, Meena laid the foundations for RAWA with her educational work for women. In 1979, Meena launched a campaign against the Soviet-backed Afghan government and Soviet forces. In 1981, she published the bilingual Payam-e-Zan (Women’s Message). Her activities and views, as well as her work against the puppet government and fundamentalists, led to her assassination on February 4, 1987. Her death did not bring about the end of this women’s organization, and women continued to thrive in their struggle for freedom, democracy and social justice.
As with any conflict, women and children are the first victims. Despite the US government shouting “womens liberation” as an excuse for invasion, Afghan women and daughters are still troubled. The United States has brought back the warlords of the Northern Alliance, which committed countless crimes against women.
Now, women’s access to health and education is restricted. Women and girls who are victims of rape are forced to marry their rapists. Ferhunde, 27, was lynched in broad daylight by a crowd in the city centre of Kabul with slander, she was burned. Amnesty International’s report of 1 November 2015 revealed the terrible crimes committed against women during the Kunduz attacks. And many other challenges…
According to Turkish media, the ‘Kabil Butcher,’ also known as Gulbeddin Hikmetyar is now residing in Turkey. The butcher, after apologising to the Afghan government on September 22, 2016, following a peace deal between the government and Hizb-i İslami, was removed from the UN Security Council’s blacklist. These talks are now under way to bring back the Taliban.
By bringing Gulbeddin and the Taliban back to power, there will be no peace, the circle of criminals will be completed.
With the growing awareness of women; fundamentalists and reactionary forces and governments in every society see a message. Therefore, a distinctive feature of such regimes and forces is to suppress women’s liberation movements and to confine the women’s half of society to homes.
As soon as Islamist fundamentalist parties took power in Turkey in the 1990s, their first task was to attack women and to take their rights and freedoms. Even today, power holders and warlords, in coordination with the Taliban’s thinking, are massacring women and exposing them to crimes and immorality.
There is no doubt that the last forty years of the women of our country have been the years where the most sacrificed victims and the worst of the oppressions, on the other hand, our history is full of heroic and brave women who should be examples and inspirations to all of us, with their works and stories.
Getting rid of all this violence and barbarism requires the heroic courage of Malalai of Maiwand, Naheed, Wajiha, Meena, Malalai Joya and other indomitable women. The voices of women rising for their own rights can evolve into a women’s liberation movement. Last year, we saw how the blood of the innocent Ferhunde and Tebessüm united our people, unprecedentedly shed thousands of streets and shocked the rotten Gani-Abdullah regime.
The struggle of warrior women in the Kobanê region of Rojava, whose situation is more or less identical to that of Afghan women, can be a model for us. As long as Afghan women do not stand up consciously for their own salvation and do not, no power on earth can free women from the shackles of fundamentalism, outdated feudal and patriarchal relations.
Selay Ghaffari
