Women in Kandahar - and fear
In the front yard of the Zarghona Anna Girls' High School, is a burned out minibus that was torched when a mob of men attacked the school a few weeks ago.
Women in Kandahar - and fear
Trudy Rubin, Inquirer Opinion Columnist
In the front yard of the Zarghona Anna Girls’ High School, is a burned out minibus that was torched when a mob of men attacked the school a few weeks ago.
But today the girls, in black tunics, loose slacks and white scarves, chatter happily in front of the low, white school, built around a courtyard. It was built decades ago under the Afghan monarchy, and continued ever since - with a break during the Taliban. Now its headmistress wonders whether its mission can go on.
The violent incident happened when riots broke out after rumors that a Koran burning was occurring in the United States. The headmistress of the school, Lailoma Popal, a handsome woman who wears a mustard and white shalwar khameez with matching headscarf, points out that among the schoolbooks that were burned by the rioters in the incident were Korans.
But the uncertainty of the future here for women who want to work and study weighs on her – as Afghans wonder whether American troops will leave soon. Educated women, a small minority in Kandahar, face a conservative culture that produced Taliban (the rioters were angry males who see girls’ schools as morally corrupt, but not necessarily Taliban members). They also fear that any return of the Taliban would plunge the country back into civil war.
When the rioters came, the teachers rushed the girls – in their black tunics, loose pants and white headscarves – into the back of the large building. They hid as many as possible in lavatories. The rioters smashed windows, piled up classroom chairs, and set rooms alight. The teachers tried to prevent the girls from screaming as the smoke filled the air.
The police in a substation right next to the school fled, reflecting their lack of capacity. Security officers in another building nearby, housing an office of the national intelligence agency, did nothing. The situation was only saved when many fathers of students arrived and begged the rioters to let the girls leave safely.
Popal, a university graduate who fled to Pakistan during Taliban rule, says only a small minority of girls go to high school in Kandahar, the children of educated parents or poor parents who understand the value of education. “Until we have good local police,” she says, “the international community can’t leave.” Then she adds: “we see police smoking hash all the time, they are all criminals and thieves. If the international community leaves, we will have a bloodier situation than now.”
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I read recently in a New York Times editorial about the millions of American families that have no books in their homes; poverty is one excuse for this. Reading Trudy Rubin's articles on Afghanistan relates to the sad discrepancies that exist in that country. The well off in their huge mansions, the women with virtually no freedoms. The men, most of whom, can't read or write their own langauage; but they sure know how to fire a weapon and kill. These folks have been at war for many years. It is amazing to think that Alexander The Great was present in Afghanistan all those many years ago. The United States has thousands of troops trying to to kill terrorists in Afghanistan; apparently there are a hell of a lot of them (terrorists) throughout the world. The United States has it's own problems and it is a shame that so much reality has to go towards killing terrorists. You can see the kinds of political systems these terrorists govern; nobody in their right minds and hearts wants this kind of government: just look everywhere and anywhere in the Middle East and North Africa. The United States' State Department has it's hands full with little hope in sight and the Defense Department is stretched. Trudy Rubin we need better minds to prevail and the courage of our American creed.— joe shoe.
Comment removed.- " A handsome woman!" Come on Trudy, stop with the platitudes. Don't liberals realize that such trite introductions weaken their overall theses, especially when most would never utter such banalities if the particular woman were, indeed, "handsome!"— lefty
- " The head mistress...wears a mustard and white shalwar khameez with matching headscarf...." Did I forget "condescending?" Why do liberals think that their pretentiousness goes undetected? I guess that Ms. Popal and her associates have mixed emotions with your column. On the one hand, they receive attention; on the other, they're treated as something other than equal? Is your thoughtless and inappropriate introduction any different from the alpha male politician that begins his meeting with a female counterpart with, " My, you look marvelous!" ?— lefty
- The "situation" was saved? How about this: "The young girls would of been killed in the fire and smoke by the ignorant, uneducated mob of men, whom despised the fact that the girls were getting an education, had it not been for the girls' fathers arriving in time to save them"? Forget about Ms. Rubin's liberal leanings, it means nothing. Our people are fighting and dying over there. For who, for what? The question remains, do we leave now and let the imbeciles try to take over or do we stay and allow the imbeciles to stay in power? It should be an easy decision if only because the educated over there are corrupted by money and power and the uneducated are corrupted by the imams.— petecurran4
- The plight of the women in Afgainstan is sad and for centries have been treated like cattle. This is due to cultural and religious tradition. It's not a reason to risk one life of our military men and women. Their civil war is: Their civil war. Let's get out now!— Tommy33
