AFGHAN WOMEN: UNDER THE SHADOW OF TERROR AND POLITICS

BY: ALIA RAWI AKBAR

Women are the main victim of civil war
The women got the most physical and mental damage in civil wars by militia that this burden can’t be easily repair or forgotten. The tragedy of the Afghan people continued, and the tragedy of civil and ethnic war continued in shape of cold war in out side of country. It caused terrible psychiatric problems to millions of Afghans both inside the country and outside, and I am one of the victims. I suffer from depression.
I have spoken freely with some of the Taliban in the US about women’s human rights, protection of women from crime against them by sharia in Islam . They sounded like common people to me at those years, and they treated me as woman with dignity and honor and freedom of speech, because I was allowing myself to be real and talk straight. They told me that we have many disturbances from warlords and have to take care of it first, and about that right of women now, we are not able to give freedom to women because women and children were the first victims of past civil wars and animosity. Many crimes were committed against them; groups of women were used and abused and forced to provide sexual enjoyment to militias.
Even though I am half Westernized, I am still an Afghan, and my question was for my own edification, and to show them my independence of mind. I had a right to question them, one question I had was how their agents were coming to the US freely and talk with authorities? Or some of them were coming for their treatment like Majrooh one of the mentally ill person which I spoke with. They said they had to discus the TAP and other affairs like Osama and deal with warlords. I also wanted to discuss matters about TAP, or Osama’s fate in America’s war against him as a terrorist, after the bombing of the US embassies in 1998, in Clinton’s time? The Taliban denied that he was a terrorist, or  he had bombed those two US embassies.
At the time of the Taliban organization US attack and bombing, in 2001, after 9/11, some ran to Pakistan and the mountains with Osama, and some ended up in American prisons and Afghan prisons. Some Afghans and almost all Pashtuns unknowingly paid the price with their blood and dignity, for the benefit of others. Also, most Pashtuns sacrificed and died unfairly in the war against Russia, which benefited the US directly. The use of Pashtuns for weakening in the past and present was mostly the plan of Pakistan, which was the ally of the US the whole time, and the enemy of Afghans independence in Pakistan. As far as I know, everybody who is aware of what Pakistan was doing to the Afghan people in general, understands their intention for the Afghan’s destiny in case of Pashtunistan freedom.
During the war with Russia, Pakistan was responsible for creating a different fundamental group for the sake of the US war with Russia. Though Afghans, the Pashtuns were followers of Rabani, Hazrat, Sayaf, Khales, Gulbudin and Gailani, all Mujahedeen leaders and others who were in power through the support of Pakistan at the time.
Tarakai, Amin and Karmal from communists, Masoud and most Mujahedeen and Taliban from Afghanistan cheated most the Pashtuns for the cause of their own movement in deferent way of politic, and aims, and some of them used most the Pashtuns for war, and for the use of the Pashtun name as a big and cultural group, Pashtun people already had political conflicts on their hands concerning Pashtunistan for almost fifty years, since 1947 with Pakistan after their forming for the purpose of standing against Russian in cold war.
Before President Daud, there was a political conflict by the name of the Duran line. It was a buffer zone from 1893 until 1950’s; after that, in President Daud’s time as prime minister, the conflict was named Pashtunistan freedom; later, Pashtunistan was called Pashtunkhwa, and still is.
The Taliban, in the beginning, disarmed the Pashtuns and non-Pashtuns for their safety and policies with Pakistan. Then, when they realized the severe ethnic war, then for the ethnic war, they gave them arms. In that time, they needed to show nationalism for the general benefit of the people, but the Taliban cheated those people because of Pakistan, the first enemy of Afghanistan but friend of the real Taliban, and the creator of the Afghan extreemistTaliban in the first place, with the agreement of Saudi Arabia and the knowledge of the US.
The US kept quiet about it in the early years and had some business affairs with them tell 2000. Pakistan’s motive this time in directing most Pashtuns to a different philosophy of Islam was to keep Afghans involved with Pakistan and the Saudi people in the circle of fundamentalism and radical Wahabists. From there, a national affair about Pashtunistan remained unsolved, but the strict idea of Wahabism in Islam also was weak in Afghanistan anyway, because Afghan people were all common Muslim. Wahabism within pure Afghan culture was generally weak as well because the honor of the Afghans would be sovereignty and freedom of mind and nationalism, without the interference of others. In that case, Pakistan would get hurt by Afghans in politics for the sake of their land. Pakistan was supposed to return it as free land to the Afghans , and let Pashtun people tribes and other tribes find each other, and think freely about their destiny,  but have held this land and its people from the twentieth century to the present until some Pshtuns in some cities adopted Pakistani’s culture, language and system,because the cultural and political Media was not provided for Pashtuns, Pakistan was also responsible for planting the roots of other new movements and philosophies in Islam, with direct support from the Saudis, and with full awareness from and direct unification of the US as a coalition in the time of Communist occupancy in Afghanistan.
I burned in turmoil because in the first place, they raised the children of war as Taliban, in very strict Islamic Madressa or schools in time of mujahedeen’s war with Communists, and these children either were orphans or hungry. With their loss of family members, they were confused about what was a lie and what was truth, and went to the Pakistanis political religious groups that easily They could be fed or sheltered by them in religious political schools with the financial support of Pakistan. Traditionally, it was like that that: needy people went to mosques to feed themselves and educate them self, but only in peacetime for humanly decent cause.In the last Taliban form in power was the result of civil war
At the time, I was bothered by the propaganda of the Northern Alliance, the other united tribes, but some time I accepted it. I also believed that the Taliban were denying it. But today’s news shows, and the reality is, that most of those Taliban’s were  Pakistanis and Arabs that are most active against America, like Hazara, Tajicks and Turkmen political groups who are against Pashtuns and they are allied with US. There are also the leftover groups of Parcham and Setam (two Communist parties; one was always pro-soviet and the other was always pro-China). They were against the Pashtuns and are still politically and socially active by Push and indirect support of other countries. They say that most of the Taliban were and are Pashtun instead of Wahabist.
For years, Pashtuns were killed because most were Pashtuns in the army from common people without being Taliban, just for their national sentiment, but to the eye of the ignorant politician in the north or in the rest of the world, Pashtuns were the target to be destroyed over the years by many groups, one after another. And the world ignored that Pashtuns were living on two sides of border—up to fifty-five million of them with their free, sacred belief in their culture and sovereignty include some that had to adopt Pakistanis ways of conduct in social and political matters.
The real Afghan Taliban were fewer in number, but were accountable because they came with the strict Arabian idea (Wahabism) and support of Soudi and Pakistan,originaly they formed during Afghan/Soviet war like Mujahedeen ,but were used for power in Afghanistan by Pakistan and US after Mujahedeen Government and rule in Afghanistan failed. At the time of Taliban rule in Afghanistan and their followers they gathered with the promise and slogan of sovereignty and security to hurt and hopeless afghans after many crimes of past warlords and their men. They succeeded in rising up in Kandahar in late 1994, took over Herat in 1995 and governing for almost six years, but ruled from December 27,1996 to September 2001 in Kabul.
For twenty years, people—mostly women and children—were raped and tortured, and their homes were looted. For that reason, some cultural people were happier about the Taliban than others. It was the first movement to be established in Afghanistan, and soon they attracted old Mujahedeen, also Pashtuns because Pashtuns were in deferent ways hurt and upset by other tribes.
In that time that, Gulbudeen, a Pashtun, had a fight with Masoud over ethnic power, there were different groups that had strong fights with Pashtun. From both north and south, they fired heavy arms toward each other, Kabul, and other area around it, got ruined. Innocent people died or crippled and lost their homes, which were looted by Masoudies militias (Shora-e Nezar), dustom and Hazara’s groups.
The Taliban could get the support of these people without telling them about their business with Osama,US and Wahabism which leaders were following, but one of the reasons for their fall was how they treated women in a very wrong way and wrong time of fack politic of western world and Northern Allience for US policy , as well as other economical and political plans that seduced the Northern Alliance to seek power by the name of women right in the time of economical agreements like TAP and at that time they were against this deal among US and Taliban and every day they were screaming about it. This came after many years of warlords’ shameful conduct against the women and people; those same warlords were and are still today in power and wealth with support from the US and the pip line business is in hand.
Everything about the Pashtuns became the news of the day to the Northern Alliance and those political non-Pashtuns who took advantage of the circumstances for getting in power and wealth, Pashtuns fought  to defeat them under different commandants and different groups, like Gulbudeen Hekmat Yar and the Taliban, in conflict with other tribes. I was aware of and concerned about other countries that wanted the Afghan people to be culturally weak for their own political and financial motives,and wanted Afghans to be  dependent on the politicians of Eastern or Western countries. Today, we see the result of all that was done in Afghanistan, all the actions that never brought real peace, security and comfort after a long time of suffering. And growth of Opium also is in raise day by day.and Afghanistan became the center of war anti-terrorism.
Every time a fundamental Mujahedeen came to power, along with the Taliban’s term in Afghanistan, the fate of many Pashtuns and women worried me. In fact, the fate of both Pashtun and non-Pashtun women was bothering me again in the Taliban’s time. In those years, the Taliban attracted Pashtuns and some of Mujahedeen because there was war among Pashtuns and others. I felt severe inner turmoil because of the threat of a tribal fight in Afghanistan. Already during the communists and mujahedeen and ethnic civil war, thousands of people went missing; millions died and hundreds of thousands lost organs. Afghanistan was carpeted with Russian mines, and thousands of girls, women and small boys were raped—some even in front of their parents. I know the victimization of all different, non-sided Afghans by political group’s and warlord’s militia. In addition, politicians from every side of society, through their actions and intentions, fully betrayed and victimized innocent people from all tribes outside and inside the country physically and mentally.
The commanders in the ethnic war against the Pashtuns, before Taliban and during Taliban and the present government, put on fake faces and followed the directions of the others and US government. What’s more, the current puppet government does not have any useful independent national genuine agenda, either. The common people who want to invest in the country don’t find security to do so, but the people who are personally connected to Karzai or his family and friends, and who work for the American agencies or government as connected investors, do. At the present time, some Pashtuns and most non-Pashtuns follow the unreliable Karzai government that still keeps tribes in the dark, not even telling them that their cultures and religion have been hijacked by Afghan politicians, US politicians (Bush’s Administration), and extremist politicians.
All groups of fundamental supported by Pakistan have missused their power and brought in qualm about Muslims to ignorants. Islam is a faith of peace and unity not terror and other sins and crimes against humans definitely, but, I hear that in America also, the media and some journalists and fundamental Christians especially that are working for the Bush government, does a good job of bringing a bad name to this religion. They portray innocent Christians as the opposite of Islam by bringing radical Christians on to their shows; in their interviews, one can obviously hear their competition with and hatred for Islam. Even Pope Benedict entered into politics and named Islam as a faith of violence.
Some ordinary people in US still don’t see the reality of their country’s place in the world, not do they see their national matters, their values, their fate, their freedom, and the causes and results of wars in their country. Most Afghans judge matters as they hear about them in the media, and judge themselves by their social contacts and extra information from deferent sources, and today, many people in Afghanistan are awake and know that the political propaganda shown on TV, in movies, on the news, in music in comedies and in interviews is for the benefit of war-loving people and for controlling the morale of people in disturbed situation that the nation already burn in economic chaos.
Lately, there are no reliable political people in power, and this makes me feel sad. I also see Pashtuns’s decent name and admiration got damaged in the region because of the Taliban and the Northern Alliance’s propaganda and actions of the Northern Alliance (the minority political group), the Setamies and some of Parcham Communist groups (political Tajik groups of Afghan Communists), that inflamed the ethnic war. They stood against the Pashtuns to weaken their culture and get the power because they were not reliable enough to hand them the power during those years of ethnic fight normally. Now some shameless traitor politicians are trying to be considered as part of Iran and Tajikistan history by people and forgot and ignored about hundreds of years share the history and culture with brave and honest, decent, and most nationalist and patriotic Afghans, now they play deferent politic in cold war by their new established Media in US for the people that are not familiar with the superb prosperous history of Afghanistan and Afghans.
 Shora-e-Nezar by masoud , warlards and Setamies committed crimes against the common people, especially women. They even made groups of prostitutes for commanders and wars militia. Those prostitutes were Afghan, and they were quiet, but if they came up and testified internationally, they would have strong voices against those commiters of shocking crimes, and nobody heard them while they were being brutalized, negativity in traditions kept them quiet about what was happening to them, for safty of their own self-respect and because if they talked, they would expose the men who committed these offenses against them, and that would hurt the men. In turn, the women would get even more hurt for exposing them and being loud because still those people are most in power.