The Reverse Gear - New Law against Women's Rights

Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan has just endorsed an outrageous law that was recommended by the Cleric Council, ‘a group of turbaned-headed men known as Shura-e-Ulama’. The law statement basically goes like ‘men and women shouldn’t mix at school, work, or other everyday situations’.

Who the hell in the world would do that?! It technically means Afghanistan needs to be divided up in two; one half for men and the other half for women. No social interactions? Is it a jungle where only hairy animals ‘bearded men’ can have rights?

In reaction to passing this law, people have reacted in humor and anger. For example one wrote on his Facebook page, ‘we don’t need the televisions anymore, because if the female news caster’s face is to be hidden, we can hear her voice from the radios’ "Girls are only allowed to access Facebook if they are wearing their Burkas!" tweeted another Afghan man. And another humorous comment goes as "We have asked the Facebook administrators to create separate profiles for women. You are not allowed to 'like' or 'poke' someone on Facebook or you will be cursed by the Ulama."

If the law is enacted, this is what will happen 

Some others like me have reacted with anger and violence. For instance, an Afghan girl has told BBC Persian ‘"It is completely disrespectful to women's rights and it undermines our privacy. We won't let them pass this law.".”It means the government is paving the way for the Taliban to control Afghanistan" says another women’s right activist in Kabul. "How dare the religious council decide about our faith?” exclaims another woman.

This is not the only issue with the government these days; there are many other similar ones. I assume one who is familiar with the recent issues, can easily see Afghanistan as a car, no, or a 'track' would be better word, and its turbaned-headed religious drivers speeding the country backward with the speed of 'no cops around anyway'. 

I wish Karzai or any of those turbaned-headed law makers would happen to read this post and answer these questions: first, who the hell is Shura e Ulama to decide about half of the population of the country? And second, why you bearded men are not limiting rights on yourselves? And all of you have wives, how would you live with them happily while you keep on chanting against them? 

Gender and Ethnic Discrimination Confined Female Pilots at Home

While chatting with a Korean friend and talking about their new female president, another friend from India posted this on Facebook "Two Hazara female pilots are being ignored by the government"I clicked the link which led me to the Los Angeles Times and said this:"The two women in their 20s were trained in the U.S. how to fly military helicopters, but in Afghanistan, they have been ignored and put off by the air force."

Reading the story, I found out that these two women had longed to become pilots; so they joined the air forces to actually reach their goals and serve their country as pilots. They go to the U.S, get trained for 18 months, and now are combat qualified, having passed courses in basic war skills and basic combat skills.

But after returning home, no assignment is given to them and so despite having dreams of contributing to their country, they have no choice but to spend their days at home watching TV, cooking, shopping, etc just like housewives.

The main reasons why these two women haven’t been given any assignment are: first; they are women, and second, they are from the ethnic group Hazara, which counts even a bigger reason than the first one.

After I stopped chatting with my Korean friend, I found myself thinking about this quote of Jostein Gaarder I really like "“A state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm.” But to me, it seems that the current Afghan government officials are too dumb to understand it. And in the future, no one knows...

Read the details here on LA Times Click Here