Afghan women benefitting in Bamiyan

[navid]

Bamiyan, the region where majority of Hazaras reside in, is seeing a revolution occurring. I know most people here will not take the news in this article with a positive reaction due to the amount of hatred most Muslims have towards the Hazara people so I don't expect any of the Taliban apologists on the board to take note of this progress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/wo...=1&oref=slogin

In Poverty and Strife, Women Test Limits

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By CARLOTTA GALL
Published: October 5, 2008

BAMIAN, Afghanistan — Far away from the Taliban insurgency, in this most peaceful corner of Afghanistan, a quiet revolution is gaining pace.
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Moises Saman for The New York Times

Nahida Rezai was the first woman to join the police force in Bamian. More Photos »
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Women Gaining Rights in Bamian

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Women are driving cars — a rarity in Afghanistan — working in public offices and police stations, and sitting on local councils. There is even a female governor, the first and only one in Afghanistan.

In many ways this province, Bamian, is unique. A half-dozen years of relative peace in this part of the country since the fall of the Taliban and a lessening of lawlessness and disorder have allowed women to push the boundaries here.

Most of the people in Bamian are ethnic Hazaras, Shiite Muslims who are in any case more open than most Afghans to the idea of women working outside the home.

But the changes in women’s lives here are also an enormous step for Afghanistan as a whole. And they may point the way to broader possibilities for women, eventually, if peace can be secured in this very conservative Muslim society, which has been dominated by militia commanders and warlords during the last 30 years of war.

In a country with low rankings on many indicators of social progress, women and girls are the most disadvantaged.

More than 80 percent of Afghan women are illiterate. Women’s life expectancy is only 45 years, lower than that of men, mostly because of the very high rates of death during pregnancy. Forced marriage and under-age marriage are common for girls, and only 13 percent of girls complete primary school, compared with 32 percent of boys.

The cult of war left women particularly vulnerable. For years now they have been the victims of abduction and rape. Hundreds of thousands were left war widows, mired in desperate poverty. Particularly in the last years of Taliban rule, even widows, who had no one to provide for them, were not allowed to work or leave the home unaccompanied by a male relative.

Fear of armed militiamen left women afraid even to walk in front of the police station in the town of Bamian, recalled Nahida Rezai, 25, the first woman to join the police force here. “And I came right into the police station,” she said, admitting to some fears.

At the beginning, she had some problems. “I received some threats by telephone,” she said. “But now I am working as a police officer, I think nothing can deter me.”

Nekbakht, 20, joined the police force, too, and now helps her father, a casual laborer, support the family. They live in a single room tucked into the cliff face of Bamian valley, where homeless refugees have found shelter in caves inhabited centuries ago by Buddhist pilgrims.

“It was very difficult to find a job,” she said. “We had economic problems, and with the high prices life was difficult. Finally, I decided if I could not find another job, I should go into the police.” After joining nine months ago, she likes the job so much she says she is encouraging other women to join, too.

Indeed, growing economic hardship has helped drive some women to join the work force or to take other bold steps as they try to help their families cope with a severe drought, rising food prices and unemployment.

That was the case for Zeinab Husseini, 19. Her father, with seven daughters and no sons, says he had little choice when he needed a second driver to help at home.

“I like driving,” she said, seated at the wheel of her family’s minibus. “I was interested from childhood to learn to drive and to buy a car. I was the first woman in Bamian to drive.”

But over all, it is the return to relative peace here that has allowed for women’s progress, said the governor, Habiba Sarabi, a doctor and educator who ran underground literacy classes during the Taliban regime.

“If the general situation improves, it can improve the situation for women,” she said. She pushed to have policewomen so they could handle women’s cases, and there are now 14 women on the force, she said.

Some of the changes in Bamian have been echoed in more conservative parts of Afghanistan. But even the success stories sometimes end up showing the continuing dangers for women who take jobs to improve their lot. In Kandahar Province, one of the most noted female police officials in the country, Capt. Malalai Kakar, was gunned down on her way to work on Sept. 28.

In Bamian Province, Mrs. Sarabi, 52, has been the driving force behind women’s progress in public life. Her appointment by President Hamid Karzai three years ago as governor of Bamian was a bold move when jihadi leaders were still so powerful in the towns and countryside.

Some opponents are still agitating for her removal, Mrs. Sarabi said. “It is not only because they are against women,” she said, “but they do not want to lose power, so they make trouble for the governor.”

She mentioned her problems to Laura Bush, the first lady, who visited Bamian in June to show support for education and women’s projects in Afghanistan. Mrs. Bush’s visit prompted Mr. Karzai to make a visit of his own to Bamian to inaugurate the construction of a district road.

The people of Bamian say they accepted a woman as governor in the hope that an English-speaking, development-oriented technocrat like Mrs. Sarabi would deliver jobs and prosperity.

In fact, the success of women’s Community Development Councils here has caught the attention of the World Bank, which has been a major donor to the programs and is looking to develop them further. Around the country there are 17,000 such councils, which choose local development projects and could be expanded to work on district and regional levels, said the bank’s president, Robert B. Zoellick, who visited Bamian this year.

“They are very effective,” he said of the councils in a recent interview. “People feel they have an influence in the future.”

The quiet work being done by women on the councils and in other jobs has helped turn things around for many in Bamian.

Najiba, 48, is a woman in Yakowlang District who lost her husband in the notorious massacre by Taliban forces there in the winter of 2000-1.

The Taliban fighters came on horseback, forcing the villagers and townspeople to flee in the night, leaving everything behind. Their shops and homes were set on fire while they sought refuge in the mountains.

After the American intervention in Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, they returned home to nothing, not even a roof over their heads.

“I just had one skirt, and I was always patching it,” Najiba said.

As the government began development programs in the provinces, Najiba was elected head of a newly formed women’s development council, representing her village and the neighboring village. Its job was to plan how to spend a government development grant.

The men’s council decided the area needed a road, and flood barriers to save the farming land near the river. The women’s council wanted instead to buy livestock for each family, traditionally the women’s domain in Afghan households, to improve the food supply for families.

The men won that debate. “We did not get the farming project,” Najiba said. “We are still suggesting it was valuable; we are trying to work on our projects so we don’t have to depend on the men.”

The women got their way with the next project: solar panels to provide light to groups of four houses. That project has opened up all sorts of ideas, for computers, televisions and educational and election programs, she said.

Women have participated in literacy and tailoring training programs, too. Najiba laughed as she explained: “We have changed our way of life. Now I have lots of skirts.”

She added, “It all comes down to the council.”

Now, women are taking courses run by nongovernmental organizations, getting educated and learning ways to improve their family incomes. Most important, the women have won over the men, she said.

“Their minds have changed,” Najiba said. “They want to share decisions, not too far, but they want to give us some share.”

[roberto]

navid said

Bamiyan, the region where majority of Hazaras reside in, is seeing a revolution occurring. I know most people here will not take the news in this article with a positive reaction due to the amount of hatred most Muslims have towards the Hazara people so I don't expect any of the Taliban apologists on the board to take note of this progress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/wo...=1&oref=slogin

Liberation, that’s got to be good news

[psychoteddybear]

Good for them!

and please don't assume everyone here or even all muslims "hate" hazaras, i thought that was really ignorant of you to say.

[MossadConspiracy]

psychoteddybear said

Good for them!

and please don't assume everyone here or even all muslims "hate" hazaras, i thought that was really ignorant of you to say.

I know right, why would somebody make generalizations like that

[navid]

psychoteddybear said

Good for them!

and please don't assume everyone here or even all muslims "hate" hazaras, i thought that was really ignorant of you to say.

psycho, I did say most, not all. And I'm afraid to say, there are many Muslims who hate Hazaras for daring to stand up to their oppressors

[jinnzaman]

navid said

psycho, I did say most, not all. And I'm afraid to say, there are many Muslims who hate Hazaras for daring to stand up to their oppressors

What are you talking about? No one hates Hazaras. Most people on this forum have never even met a Hazara. Stop generalizing and making misleading comments.

[SoSoHalalish]

navid said

psycho, I did say most, not all. And I'm afraid to say, there are many Muslims who hate Hazaras for daring to stand up to their oppressors

Weird. I thought Hazaras were Muslims.

[navid]

SoSoHalalish said

Weird. I thought Hazaras were Muslims.

That doesn't stop people from demonizing Iraqi Shi'as, does it?

[SoSoHalalish]

navid said

That doesn't stop people from demonizing Iraqi Shi'as, does it?

Iraqi Shias? WOAH man- I thought we were talking about these Hazara whoz its. So why do most Muslims hate these Hazara people? I'm surprised man, I have to admit, the first time I even heard of a Hazara was when I read that book by that guy about the kites. But other than that- never heard of them. And I'm Pakistani, so if I haven't heard of them, maaaaan, how do all those Arab Muslims, and African Muslims, and Asian Muslims, and American Muslims, and European Muslims- how do they all know Hazaras and hate them?

Like personally, I've never met a Hazara- you know? But I guess there must be a huge population of them, and I guess they're spread out all over the world- especially the Muslim world- because otherwise, how could MOST of the Muslim world hate them? Because I'm pretty sure you've got to know someone to hate them, or At least heard about them.

So what do these Hazaras do so that MOST of the Muslims hate them? Are they REALLY involved in World Politics? Do they have a Seat on NATO or the UN or something? Are they like the Jews, like with all the power and stuff? Do they come from a country (I guess itd be Hazarastan or something) thats like, controlling the world and bombing Muslim countries? Are they like- allies with Israel, and do they provide weapons to Israel? Are they committing mass Genocide of Muslims like those Serbs did?

I'm just trying to figure out why MOST MUSLIMS HATE Hazaras. Weird. And I really thought they were Muslims too. That kite book guy just didn't know what he was talking about, I guess.

[navid]

SoSoHalalish said

Iraqi Shias? WOAH man- I thought we were talking about these Hazara whoz its. So why do most Muslims hate these Hazara people? I'm surprised man, I have to admit, the first time I even heard of a Hazara was when I read that book by that guy about the kites. But other than that- never heard of them. And I'm Pakistani, so if I haven't heard of them, maaaaan, how do all those Arab Muslims, and African Muslims, and Asian Muslims, and American Muslims, and European Muslims- how do they all know Hazaras and hate them?

Like personally, I've never met a Hazara- you know? But I guess there must be a huge population of them, and I guess they're spread out all over the world- especially the Muslim world- because otherwise, how could MOST of the Muslim world hate them? Because I'm pretty sure you've got to know someone to hate them, or At least heard about them.

So what do these Hazaras do so that MOST of the Muslims hate them? Are they REALLY involved in World Politics? Do they have a Seat on NATO or the UN or something? Are they like the Jews, like with all the power and stuff? Do they come from a country (I guess itd be Hazarastan or something) thats like, controlling the world and bombing Muslim countries? Are they like- allies with Israel, and do they provide weapons to Israel? Are they committing mass Genocide of Muslims like those Serbs did?

I'm just trying to figure out why MOST MUSLIMS HATE Hazaras. Weird. And I really thought they were Muslims too. That kite book guy just didn't know what he was talking about, I guess.

What a waste of bandwidth your post is.

[SyedShoaib786]

lol stop grouping us as one people whenever there is a hate. but i must admit, your lust for one ummah with one position on various groups is actually inspiring...inshaAllah our unity will overcome our differences.

[SoSoHalalish]

navid said

What a waste of bandwidth your post is.

Funny coming from the guy whose been posting the same redundant crap since he's registered at this forum.

[ChotooMotoo]

I'm guessing that 90% of the worlds Muslims don't even know what a "Hazara" is, and the remaining 10% would need to be told if you're talking about the Afghan or Pakistani Hazara's.

[psychoteddybear]

dude....don't blame Islam for the stupidity of factions between people. People make things bad, not religion. If one group of Muslims think hey're better than another and attack them, that has nothing to do with Islam, as much as people would like to twist their demented truths to accomodate their belief of what Islam is. chill out yo.

[navid]

psychoteddybear said

dude....don't blame Islam for the stupidity of factions between people. People make things bad, not religion. If one group of Muslims think hey're better than another and attack them, that has nothing to do with Islam, as much as people would like to twist their demented truths to accomodate their belief of what Islam is. chill out yo.

I never blamed Islam for this.