Thursday, 23 January, 2025
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OPINION

Respect Women’s Rights



Parmeshwar Devkota

Afghanistan has suddenly plunged into a political turmoil. No sooner had the American and NATO’s troops pulled out of the war-torn South Asian nation than the Taliban seized power, creating a sense of fear among the people. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani fled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and foreigners and minority people have got panicked, recalling the horrors perpetuated by the Taliban in the past. The victorious Taliban fighters are now roaming on the streets with modern weapons.

Amid the chaos, one of the spokesperson of the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, emerged recently in the Presidential Palace in Kabul and held a press conference. He tried to soothe the Afghans as well as foreigners saying that they were not as hardliner as they were in the past. The Taliban have also given amnesty to one and all, who had fought against them. Although the Taliban have given relief to Afghani people, and foreign nationals and the agencies working in the country, the rights and liberty of the Afghan women is now in peril.

On the issue of the liberation of women, spokesperson Mujahid said that they would be entitled to enjoy freedom in line with the Sharia law. Though the law is one, its definitions and implementation vary. Wearing a hijab in public places is not compulsory in the law of Saudi Arabia, but it is impossible to see a woman without it in the streets.
Going by the statements of the Taliban spokesperson, it is clear that they will impose the Sharia law strictly in the days to come. Under this law, a woman cannot walk alone and talk to passers-by in the street. It will give rise to polygamy, allowing men to marry more than one wife. A husband can abandon a wife by uttering Talak three times, but when a wife does so, it will have no effect on her husband. Corporal punishment is common. So, sooner or later, all the women of Afghanistan will be seen under veil and deprived of modern education.

Eighteen Puranas and Manusmiriti used to guide the lifestyle of Aryans, especially that of women. So is the Sharia law in the Muslim society. Similar was history of the Christian religion. Christianity, in the earlier days, used to guide women on their affairs. Theravāda sect of Buddhism had also prescriptions for the behaviour of women, but with the passage of time, they have little influence on women. And the Islamic world is giving high value to the Sharia law.

The old values and culture have been replaced by the new ones over the years. Leading women intellectuals such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady, Alice Paul and other fought for women’s rights and liberty. They had also established new feminist theories applied in literature and social movements and reforms. Today, the women in the secular and democratic countries enjoy freedom but in many Muslim nations women do not have their rights even over their own body.

If the modern-day women go on following such obsolete values, what will be the meaning of the contribution made by Gloria Steinem, Malala Yousafzai and others in this regard?