Islam and its Bigots: The Case of Safiyatu Huseini Tugur Tudu

Abstract

A lot has happened since our inaugural issue. Some of it has been uplifting, and some have been depressing. On the positive front, Afghan women seem to have been freed from the prison of their homes. At the moment, there are hopeful signs that they will be able to play crucial public political, judicial and social roles in administering their country, provided the war lords and patriarchs who have dominated the country for the past twenty years agree. Given the fragility of peace and the lack of security in war torn Afghanistan, few professional women in Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif have been able to return to work. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) declared on International Human Rights Day that there is really little in the Bonn agreement for women to be hopeful about (Dec 10, 2001). They graphically reminded us of the infamy of the Northern Alliance during their years in power. The human rights abuses of the Mujahedeens, who make up the alliance, were far worse than the Talibans. Between 1992 to 1996 they engaged in: “widespread raping of girls and women from ages seven to seventy, massacres, looting national assets and archaeological riches, extorting vast amounts of money from defenceless people and other crimes and atrocities” (RAWA 2001). In RAWA’s view, the United Nations must realize that the “mere end of the forced misery and humiliation of the burqa is in no way an indication of attainment of women’s rights and liberties.”