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Nadima’s family fled Afghanistan as an infant. When he grew up, he returned. Now despite her fears and uncertainties, the 38-year-old woman refuses to leave. In this article, she sees the changes she has seen in her country since the Taliban came to power on August 15. She wonders what the future holds for women in Afghanistan and asks why so many men are not standing up for their rights.
All my cousins whom I had not seen for 10 years were visiting Kabul three days ago, from Mazar, from Herat. We all enjoyed being together.
The house was full of girls, we danced, we all decided to play, they all wore my crowns, we all wore traditional ones. We sang together, cooked, shared stories, talked about everything that was going on.
One of my relatives remembered how he worked as a teacher; now she can’t imagine sitting at home without teaching. She fought for her education, criticized her family, while the only person who helped her to go to India to get her Masters degree was her husband. Even his brother, my cousin, did not.
As a result, they would not think of staying home. She fears that what happened to her mother, who was hit by the Taliban in 1999, 2000, could be her story. She does not want to be beaten as her mother urged her to run a girls’ school in Heart Taliban after the closure.
My cousin tells me that she is very strong and independent and that she should always encourage education. But he doesn’t feel like he wants to get out of here, and go to Turkey.
“These people don’t know our importance, our value, what we have to offer as women to go to a country that has welcomed me and praised me,” she told me. “All the hard work I did to get here, to train another girl, I am now doing this in a country that would accept me and want their wives to learn,” she said.
It really hurt me, you know, because it’s so important in this world, for the young girls here.
He understands culture, language, education, because he went through it. He is a mathematician and goes on to his PhD. But now everyone should enjoy the fruits of their labor, Turkish students. Now in another country, a group of people have learned from him when he was supposed to teach children in Afghanistan.
We have lost so many women like her in this world. I am very sorry.
I will be fine but everyone is gone and I am alone in the house and I think: what should I do?
Because of the decision I made to stay, I can’t tell anyone how I feel. As shots were fired into the air one day, I called one of my relatives, who also lives in Kabul and could not leave. “Are you all right?” I asked. The festive gunfire seems like a new phenomenon, we heard the day the US troops were fired, then Mullah Baradar, the deputy leader in the new Afghan government, arrived in Kabul a few days ago.
“I’ll be fine but what are you doing here?” He asked.
“I can’t leave,” I said.
“No, you have no reason to call me, no reason to call me. You chose to stay here – now stay with me, ”he replied.
That’s why I’m not even allowed to say how I feel.
Those who choose to stay here, to raise their voice or try to be a part of this and to look and understand for themselves, are not given a chance.
People are starting to lose interest because they are just trying to survive. They worry about the economy, their education, their health.
Sadly, yes, there is a change taking place, there is a change of government, there is a history with the old Taliban, the people have a problem.
But how does this relate to women who are continuing their education? How does this relate to orphanages that need money, for children who have been abused in the last 20 years of war? What about the women who are in the hospital when they are about to give birth? What about the nurses, the doctors, who will take care of them?
Would anyone on earth think that he could simply give up on his children, girls, boys, and men?
I feel like a divorce has taken place between Afghanistan and the rest of the world.
Afghanistan is like a female powerhouse – a woman – and now she is left with a group of children who depended on their father. And Afghanistan, being a feminist, was made a housewife. He was told: “You don’t have to do anything, we will do everything for you”. But they were all liars and he had been abandoned by a group of children; their education, their health, their public life, all taken away from them.
And after what happened last month, who’s going to take care of this? Who will send doctors for this? Who will create the power to heal? Who is trying to say we are going to be all right? The one who went ahead and tried to reassure the people said: “We do not know the future but we have arrived, we will not just leave anyone hanged.”
There are blockbuster animations made in Hollywood that are good at making these heroes who always save the world. But look at the real thing. Where are the heroes? Because this is real, Zombies is taking over. It is true and these children are really suffering.
One day, I saw women doing street work from the window of my house. They were shouting and protesting against their rights and some of us were sitting inside.
I looked at my brothers and said: “Look, there are so many women in this city, and there are only about 50 of them [protesting]? ”
“It’s all a show,” my brother replied. “Real people have been and are watching this. These poor women may have been beaten, hurt and hurt and no one can help them.
“We did this by fighting in the war 15 years ago, 20 years ago. My mother did, our grandfather did.
“Now we know that there is none [that] We can do this for the world because men, men do not protect us. He will not criticize us, he will not honor us. No father has gone out to contend with their sisters, mothers, daughters, wives, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. ”
He said the men only wanted power, money and guidance while we were being used. So if men can’t do this for us, what can we do?
And there are some suicide bombers who think that if they die, they will have heaven and a bonus of 70, 72 virgins.
But this is crazy for me. I do not understand how they are so willing to die for this idea that they will be accepted by 72 virgins in heaven, when on earth they do not try to fight for one woman, they will not die for one – not their mother, their own sister, their grandmother, their daughter, their nephew.
It amazes me that they are willing to die for these imaginary women to live in heaven but are not ready to die for women in this world, in this world, in this world.
There are beggars in the streets with little children in their arms. All these babies have been bitten and have scars, their mouths are dry due to dehydration, all their nails are damaged due to vitamin deficiencies and they all appear to be malnourished.
The men have no sympathy for the women and their babies but have gone to marry a 15- or 16, 17-year-old virgin.
They kill women who sell their bodies to feed their families, but they cannot kill the men who give them money for prostitution. A man who looks at a woman in the street will not be punished, but a woman who walks by, without disturbing anyone, is told to hide.
Women are often at greater risk here, while those who cause the disorder move more freely.
Today, when I am alone, all my relatives are gone, and it is quiet. The house was full of children. I used to have tea with my friends in the evenings, but now I am alone. But thank God I am not alone.
I still keep informing people and trying to smile and make jokes and try to make everyone laugh, because the least I can do is try – what I wish I could see again from all over the world.
I know that this thunder will pass and I hope the light will shine.
* Nadima, known to his followers for changing his name to Patinggala Kakai, is a collaborator with Pashtun on TV who has promoted the message of unconditional love and the promotion of human rights for all.