July 5, 2024
By Umar Bacha
ISLAMABAD:
Saleha, a former journalist, recently moved to Islamabad to escape severe restrictions imposed on women by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
While in Afghanistan, Saleha, alongside other Afghan women, actively protested the Taliban’s oppressive policies. Before the recent Doha meeting in Qatar, attended by some 20 envoys, they urged the United Nations to take action against human rights violations in Afghanistan – and not to recognise the Taliban regime.
Their pleas largely went unheard. The Taliban leaders dismissed restrictions on women as merely ‘internal matters,’ a stance that has only deepened the concerns of Afghan women. These women criticize the UN-led meetings with Taliban leaders in Doha for failing to address the ongoing human rights abuses in Afghanistan.
Sanam Akbari, an Afghan women’s rights activist, lamented that the international community, including the United Nations, has failed to include Afghan women in these critical discussions – “It has been almost three years under the Taliban rule, and Afghan women are confined to their homes, deprived of the right to work, to education, and other basic freedoms.”
The Doha conference excluded Afghan women. “No one is talking about the oppression we face,” said Saleha.
Neha Sakhra, manager of the Afghanistan Women’s Freedom Window Movement, moved to Pakistan a year and a half ago to save her life – “Women in Afghanistan are stuck in a quagmire of problems. Those who protest are labelled enemies of the Taliban, and many have been arrested. Afghan women condemned the Doha conference for not addressing the restrictions imposed on us.”
The Taliban’s stance remains firm. They have threatened to intensify their harsh measures if international pressure mounts for women’s rights. Afghan women living in Pakistan call upon the global community to advocate for their rights, allowing them to return to their homeland where they can access education, employment, and live in peace.