By Diksha Rathore
New Delhi [India], As the Taliban strengthens its grip on Afghanistan, the country's women have made peace with the reality that the hardline group will not soften its attitude towards them.
Afghan human rights activist Pashtana Durrani delves into how not much has changed for Afghan women as they continue to fight for their fundamental rights to education and employment. The 27-year-old says it is time to be realistic and not hope that the Taliban interim government, which took control of the United States in 2021, changes, because "it's not going to happen."
"One thing that has always interested me and that I have understood and learned the hard way, of course, is that no one is coming to our rescue. And I think it is a time when we all accept that and stop waiting for larger international organizations to do it." for us. Waiting for the Taliban to change. I don't think that's going to happen, and I think even if it happens, it will be a very, very long war," the Afghan activist told ANI in an exclusive interview.
Pashtana, who is also an educator, founded LEARN Afghanistan, a grassroots organization that helped build the country's first digital school network, said that at a time like this, when women are denied education and their presence in public spaces, it is pure resilience that will keep them going."I think the only thing I expect from my students, who I work with or from teachers, we have all learned, is that we have to be resilient. We have to be smart in We have to be aware of what we do. But also, most importantly, we are going to continue doing what we do no matter what," Pashtana told ANI.
"We're going to keep learning. We're going to keep going to schools. We're going to keep doing what we think is best for Afghanistan. When the right time comes, I'm pretty sure the country will accept their daughters," the activist said at the interview that was conducted virtually.
It is pertinent to note that the third meeting organized by the United Nations in Doha just around the corner and the event that for the first time will feature the participation of the Taliban has sparked a massive global protest over the exclusion of women and civil representatives In the two-day talks starting June 30 in Qatar, envoys from about two dozen countries, including the United States, will interact with Taliban representatives for the first time since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the talks. which is known as the "Doha process" in 2023.
When asked about the upcoming Doha meeting, Pashtana said she no longer has any expectations.
"I don't expect anything from the UN anymore. I feel like it's fake. I feel like it's a sham. I feel like these are people with careers who are trying to make a career in Afghanistan. Because it's just another line that you can see, oh, I worked in Afghanistan and then you can use that to get another job or a promotion or whatever, and people can call you tough The UN is a sham, just like every other big organization that uses and makes money in Afghanistan. And I say this while working with. UN agencies. I don't say this when the people who are on the ground doing the work feel that it is okay to exclude Afghan women because they have enough education, because they lived in Afghanistan for a few months and now they are all Afghans." The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed in a statement on Friday its deep concern about the exclusion of women and girls from the upcoming meeting in Doha.
The Committee calls for the active and direct inclusion of women and girls in these debates that pertain to the most serious crisis of women's rights worldwide.
"Failure to include Afghan civil society, including women human rights defenders, as significant participants in the Doha discussions will result in the rights of women and girls not being adequately addressed. This would be contradictory with the CEDAW Convention and UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace and 2721," the statement reads. CEDAW means Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Meanwhile, Pashtana says Afghan women are fighting a battle not only against violations of human rights and humanitarian laws, but also against denial of access to employment and education, and are constantly coming up with creative ways to overcome these obstacles.
However, they are also fighting for their identity as an Afghan woman who is talked about around the world without her being physically there. "So I think right now Afghan women are not only fighting the frontline war against abuse humanitarian or human rights abuse, which is like not being able to access school, not being able to access jobs, and trying to find innovative ways to access them. But they are also fighting for their identity as Afghan women. speaks all over the world without her being present. And apart from that, I think Afghan women are also fighting for the Islamic and Afghan identity of Afghanistan in general, because what the Taliban are saying now is, oh, this is it. what Islam says, but this is not what Islam says. So Afghan women are also fighting the religious war and at the same time, we are fighting the war of identities where people are saying, oh. Culturally, Afghans do not want their daughters to receive an education," says the activist.
Pashtana is an Afghan feminist, activist and educator. At age 21, she became the leader of her family and founded LEARN Afghanistan, the country's first digital school network. Despite forced exile due to the Taliban takeover, she persistently provides education to hundreds of girls in Afghanistan. Known for her fearlessness, Durrani is a radio and television commentator and her story has been featured on PBS, BBC and more.
When asked to cite the difference between the Taliban of the 1990s and the Taliban 2.0 that swept to power in Kabul in August 2021, forcing most Afghans to flee, Pashtana said that "the only thing that has changed in the Taliban is that now I can speak better English." "Other than that, I think the Taliban are basically the same back then, they didn't have any policy to improve the country, now they don't hate women back then. So now they hate women more than anything else. Back then they abused human rights, so I don't think their value has changed much," says the Afghan activist.
Shocked by the plight of Afghan women, girls under the interim Taliban regime, she says the country's women are not only fighting for a cause, but also leading it.
"They're also the ones who are really coming up with practical ways to combat this problem, you know, in general. But in general, I think it's depressing and disappointing to see that, you know, the world is talking about us, but without us," He added. He also stressed that the West is to blame for most of what happened in Afghanistan, but Afghan politicians must also be held responsible for it.
"I think the West is to blame for most of what has happened to Afghanistan in general. I mean, let's face it. A lot of corruption was facilitated by Western bodies in Afghanistan. Many people who were abusing human rights even before then were enabled by Western bodies in general, but at the same time I think it was the responsibility of the Afghan elite, politicians or political forces who could have done much better because they knew they were in a hostile neighborhood "They had Iran and Pakistan in their. neighborhoods, and they could have done better for their community and their country, and they didn't. They preferred money to their people. And today, Afghan women pay the price," says the young activist.
In February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement on the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan by May 2021. In April 2021, NATO foreign and defense ministers decided to withdraw all allied troops of Afghanistan in a few months. When the United States and NATO forces announced their withdrawal from the country, the Taliban began an assault on the main cities and took control of several of them. In less than a week, the Taliban had captured seven of the country's 34 provincial capitals.
Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and Taliban forces took control of Kabul on August 15, 2021.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has described the human rights situation as serious, particularly the rights of women and girls, as well as religious and ethnic minorities in Afghanistan. The UN welcomed the first Afghanistan Conference (in Doha) in May 2023 without the Taliban with the aim of developing a common international approach towards Afghanistan
The second Conference on Afghanistan was convened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Doha, Qatar, in February this year.
New Delhi [India], As the Taliban strengthens its grip on Afghanistan, the country's women have made peace with the reality that the hardline group will not soften its attitude towards them.
Afghan human rights activist Pashtana Durrani delves into how not much has changed for Afghan women as they continue to fight for their fundamental rights to education and employment. The 27-year-old says it is time to be realistic and not hope that the Taliban interim government, which took control of the United States in 2021, changes, because "it's not going to happen."
"One thing that has always interested me and that I have understood and learned the hard way, of course, is that no one is coming to our rescue. And I think it is a time when we all accept that and stop waiting for larger international organizations to do it." for us. Waiting for the Taliban to change. I don't think that's going to happen, and I think even if it happens, it will be a very, very long war," the Afghan activist told ANI in an exclusive interview.
Pashtana, who is also an educator, founded LEARN Afghanistan, a grassroots organization that helped build the country's first digital school network, said that at a time like this, when women are denied education and their presence in public spaces, it is pure resilience that will keep them going."I think the only thing I expect from my students, who I work with or from teachers, we have all learned, is that we have to be resilient. We have to be smart in We have to be aware of what we do. But also, most importantly, we are going to continue doing what we do no matter what," Pashtana told ANI.
"We're going to keep learning. We're going to keep going to schools. We're going to keep doing what we think is best for Afghanistan. When the right time comes, I'm pretty sure the country will accept their daughters," the activist said at the interview that was conducted virtually.
It is pertinent to note that the third meeting organized by the United Nations in Doha just around the corner and the event that for the first time will feature the participation of the Taliban has sparked a massive global protest over the exclusion of women and civil representatives In the two-day talks starting June 30 in Qatar, envoys from about two dozen countries, including the United States, will interact with Taliban representatives for the first time since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the talks. which is known as the "Doha process" in 2023.
When asked about the upcoming Doha meeting, Pashtana said she no longer has any expectations.
"I don't expect anything from the UN anymore. I feel like it's fake. I feel like it's a sham. I feel like these are people with careers who are trying to make a career in Afghanistan. Because it's just another line that you can see, oh, I worked in Afghanistan and then you can use that to get another job or a promotion or whatever, and people can call you tough The UN is a sham, just like every other big organization that uses and makes money in Afghanistan. And I say this while working with. UN agencies. I don't say this when the people who are on the ground doing the work feel that it is okay to exclude Afghan women because they have enough education, because they lived in Afghanistan for a few months and now they are all Afghans." The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed in a statement on Friday its deep concern about the exclusion of women and girls from the upcoming meeting in Doha.
The Committee calls for the active and direct inclusion of women and girls in these debates that pertain to the most serious crisis of women's rights worldwide.
"Failure to include Afghan civil society, including women human rights defenders, as significant participants in the Doha discussions will result in the rights of women and girls not being adequately addressed. This would be contradictory with the CEDAW Convention and UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace and 2721," the statement reads. CEDAW means Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Meanwhile, Pashtana says Afghan women are fighting a battle not only against violations of human rights and humanitarian laws, but also against denial of access to employment and education, and are constantly coming up with creative ways to overcome these obstacles.
However, they are also fighting for their identity as an Afghan woman who is talked about around the world without her being physically there. "So I think right now Afghan women are not only fighting the frontline war against abuse humanitarian or human rights abuse, which is like not being able to access school, not being able to access jobs, and trying to find innovative ways to access them. But they are also fighting for their identity as Afghan women. speaks all over the world without her being present. And apart from that, I think Afghan women are also fighting for the Islamic and Afghan identity of Afghanistan in general, because what the Taliban are saying now is, oh, this is it. what Islam says, but this is not what Islam says. So Afghan women are also fighting the religious war and at the same time, we are fighting the war of identities where people are saying, oh. Culturally, Afghans do not want their daughters to receive an education," says the activist.
Pashtana is an Afghan feminist, activist and educator. At age 21, she became the leader of her family and founded LEARN Afghanistan, the country's first digital school network. Despite forced exile due to the Taliban takeover, she persistently provides education to hundreds of girls in Afghanistan. Known for her fearlessness, Durrani is a radio and television commentator and her story has been featured on PBS, BBC and more.
When asked to cite the difference between the Taliban of the 1990s and the Taliban 2.0 that swept to power in Kabul in August 2021, forcing most Afghans to flee, Pashtana said that "the only thing that has changed in the Taliban is that now I can speak better English." "Other than that, I think the Taliban are basically the same back then, they didn't have any policy to improve the country, now they don't hate women back then. So now they hate women more than anything else. Back then they abused human rights, so I don't think their value has changed much," says the Afghan activist.
Shocked by the plight of Afghan women, girls under the interim Taliban regime, she says the country's women are not only fighting for a cause, but also leading it.
"They're also the ones who are really coming up with practical ways to combat this problem, you know, in general. But in general, I think it's depressing and disappointing to see that, you know, the world is talking about us, but without us," He added. He also stressed that the West is to blame for most of what happened in Afghanistan, but Afghan politicians must also be held responsible for it.
"I think the West is to blame for most of what has happened to Afghanistan in general. I mean, let's face it. A lot of corruption was facilitated by Western bodies in Afghanistan. Many people who were abusing human rights even before then were enabled by Western bodies in general, but at the same time I think it was the responsibility of the Afghan elite, politicians or political forces who could have done much better because they knew they were in a hostile neighborhood "They had Iran and Pakistan in their. neighborhoods, and they could have done better for their community and their country, and they didn't. They preferred money to their people. And today, Afghan women pay the price," says the young activist.
In February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement on the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan by May 2021. In April 2021, NATO foreign and defense ministers decided to withdraw all allied troops of Afghanistan in a few months. When the United States and NATO forces announced their withdrawal from the country, the Taliban began an assault on the main cities and took control of several of them. In less than a week, the Taliban had captured seven of the country's 34 provincial capitals.
Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and Taliban forces took control of Kabul on August 15, 2021.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has described the human rights situation as serious, particularly the rights of women and girls, as well as religious and ethnic minorities in Afghanistan. The UN welcomed the first Afghanistan Conference (in Doha) in May 2023 without the Taliban with the aim of developing a common international approach towards Afghanistan
The second Conference on Afghanistan was convened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Doha, Qatar, in February this year.
