In a country where woman have no say at all in what happens
and are constantly harassed, stoned, beaten, abused, basically not considered
as humans and are there just for the slave work of her husband’s and his
family’s household.
Masooma Haidari (i apologize for getting the name wrong), a 19-year-old girl who was teaching at Sayeed-ush
Shuhada high school in Qala-e Muhib area, Dasht-e barchi, district 13 of Kabul
city, was walking back from Katib University, located in Dasht-e Barchi towards
her home after 07:30pm on the night of 23rd November 2011, when men
(number unknown) attacked her. They tackled her, beat her and than when she
finally didn’t let up, they stabbed her in the back. Her books were scattered,
bag thrown, and glasses broken. She staggered all the way home; the place of
incident from her home is not more than 700 meters away. Taken to the hospital
and died there.
She lived with her 3 brothers and her mother. Her father
died long ago. When he died, she clung to her mother, cried and begged for her
not to leave them behind (not to die too). Her mother today was shocked, so
shocked that she could not even cry. She was looking at her daughter while
other woman were washing her (an Islamic ritual done to every individual before
they are put to grave) and saying “look, she took the promise from me that I
will never leave but instead she left me”.
The murder was reported to the district 13 police, they have
told the family and the Wakil (representative and in-charge of the area) of the
area that they will look into capturing the murderers. But I have little faith
in the Police forces of Afghanistan. They do not care about this or any other
cases that are stacked in their offices. All the Afghan Government and their
Police forces do care about is how to rob people, how to take bribes and how to
fill their own pockets with money.
If they cared about the society and the Afghan population
and the slogans of “woman’s rights”, they would do something about it.
Certain people in Afghanistan who are the children of
powerful warlords of yesterday and so-called leaders of today, are going
shopping in Dubai and EU countries spending the nations money while people in
Afghanistan die of poverty, lack of health services and insecurity.
They don’t care because in their little bubble of security
they feel the safest and have the best lives.
10 years into the process and no work has been done for the
betterment of woman’s lives in this country. We do have a symbolic Ministry of
Woman’s Affair, but they don’t do anything at all.
Women burn themselves for so many reasons in Afghanistan.
They do not trust the Afghan Government Justice system because the system has
done nothing for them in the past and will do nothing for them in the future if
it goes on like this. Burning and/or killing themselves is the last straw they
use to get out of this miserable life because they have no other choice. They
know if they escape, they will be caught and sent back to the same village to
only be either beaten or stoned to death.
Honestly I don’t have a conclusion for this because the
conclusion was her death. If the Afghan Police does not arrest the individuals
responsible for this brutal act of murder, there soon will be more and more
woman have to suffer because men in Afghanistan think they are superior and
they can get away with anything they do.
Civil rights organizations in Afghanistan are active, but
there is little they can do. Warlords and power hungry leaders of Afghanistan
do not let them do anything.
One of these Organizations, which I have been privileged to
be a volunteer member of for a while now, brings in new hope.
YWC since its establishment in early 2011 has done a lot.
They have organized protests against street harassment of woman in Kabul. They
have organized lectures and conferences of awareness against abuse, and
harassment at work place.
I now as a volunteer for a woman’s rights organization can
proudly say that we are fighting to bring the other %50 of the Population to
the table. Make people realize that unless we share the ground with them, work
with them for improving this country and give them a place of existence in this
society, we will never be a developed country and we will never have a hope for
the future.
We are fighting to stop other Masooma's from getting killed
just because they expressed their existence in the society!
