AFGHAN WOMEN AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

By Aparna Rajeev

BARREN, WAR-TORN RIDDLED WITH BLOODSHED. It would truly be an understatement to say that this is how Afghanistan as a nation today is imagined by thousands if not millions of people around the world. The nation that once etched its name in the history books of the world on account of being positioned strategically at the crossroads of several mighty empires, today, however, spews blood and violence. Beginning with the Soviet intervention in the 1970s followed by the Taliban invasion and the United States occupation to carry out their “global war on terror” in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the nation undoubtedly has witnessed a lot of sufferings and trauma over the years. However, even as Afghanistan as a nation that has a rich cultural and historical legacy seeks desperately to establish peace in the country through the rampant peacekeeping efforts facilitated by the United States, one cannot ignore the fact that the women of Afghanistan continue to be the worst sufferers of the war-stricken nation.

In fact, the peacebuilding process that began in the nation long back with President Obama’s unfulfilled promise of withdrawal of the US troops from the country by 2014 came to a realization with the signing of the peace treaty between the US and the Islamist militant Taliban forces under the Trump administration. However, upon close analysis of the signed peace treaty, it is evident that Trump has helmed the execution and the signing of the agreement mainly in the bid of achieving the complete removal of the American military troops stationed in the Afghanistan base rather than steering peace and development in Afghanistan. Shocking the world, the apparent “peace” agreement helmed by the Trump administration of US involved a direct negotiation with the Taliban members thereby giving the Taliban a much greater role instead of fully-fledged democratic government machinery in the functioning of a post-US occupied Afghanistan.

While this has huge ramifications for an Afghan community, which has been desperate to rebuild both their nation and lives that have been wrecked since the seventies, it has led to the emergence of an unusual fear in the hearts and minds of the entirety of womankind in Afghanistan. Stemming from the fact that the inception of the US occupation of Afghanistan in the post 9/11 era did not only mark the downfall of the Taliban forces in some of the most important parts of the country but also marked the beginning of a new era where women at least in smaller proportions started to significantly rebuild their lives based on rights and freedoms as they once did before the Soviet invasions. In fact, a large proportion of women in the areas where the Taliban wields less or no controls have started entering into both public and private sectors, thereby aiming to transform the social and economic fabric of the country along with inspiring a new generation of women to lead the country to peace and prosperity. Aiming to uphold and strengthen their hard-earned political rights which they received back in 1964, the Afghan women have created a wave by registering a whopping 28% constitution in the legislature, which surprisingly is also substantially on a higher level than the women participation of several developed countries of the world. Like Maureen Dowd, a columnist of The New York Times, once quoted “Afghanistan is much more than the graveyard of empires”. Truly.

Even though things are slowly but surely changing, with women gaining formal education and entry into the workforce even outside the city of Kabul in order to restore dignity and rebuild their social and political fabric, things are much more complicated than they seem. Afghan women continue to be the victims of some of the worst atrocities that humanity has ever known especially in the Taliban-controlled regions where they are dehumanized every single day. While it is commonly acknowledged that the peacebuilding process is painstakingly difficult to bring about in Afghanistan, it becomes further complicated as women in the country continue to be excluded and marginalized even in this crucial process of establishment of peace. While Afghanistan today is a nation that has women wielding significant positions such as deputy minister of defense and permanent ambassador to the United Nations along with large scale involvement in the maintenance of national security, it is nothing less than ironic that women are completely left out from the peacebuilding process in the country. This is especially significant today mainly because of the fact that the Trump administration through their peace agreement has granted the extremist Taliban forces the much-needed leap to wield significant power in a post-US Afghanistan, which would not only imply a second rule of the ruthless Taliban forces, but also the undermining of the womanhood of Afghanistan through the systematic repression of their political, social and economic rights which includes their right to vote, run for office, access to education, etc.

Indeed, the fear started to truly unfold among the Afghan women through the constant undermining of the role of women especially in the peacebuilding process as the Afghan delegation consisted of simply four women during their peace talks with the United States in Doha, Qatar. While subsequently, the fear was cemented with the presence of a single female minister, Habiba Sarabi in the entire Afghan delegation during a global peace talk held in Moscow, Russia. While the international community was quick to condemn the façade put up by the Afghan government in their bid to display “women empowerment”, the presence of members from the Taliban forces outnumbering the women in the delegation created a situation of real panic in the society.

In fact, while the Afghan community as a whole has been waiting in desperation for the materialization of the so-called “peace” treaty with the US, it is only unfortunate that the treaty has high potential to once again topple the lives of the citizenry rendering them as sufferers and victims all over again by handing over both political legitimacy and the ruling power to the Taliban forces. Proving their worst fears, the Afghan community has already begun to face the brunt of the treaty established by the Trump administration in the months following the signing of the treaty in Doha. This is especially true for the women in Afghanistan, as the nation witnessed shootings of several female journalists in broad daylight and even assassination attempts on one of the female ministers of the Cabinet, with the United Nations reporting the highest level of causalities in the month of November last year.

Worsening the already existing conditions, the country has recently hit the headlines, on account of the Biden administration’s involvement in the peacebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. In one of the recently leaked documents which is the supposed draft of the peace-keeping efforts for Afghanistan under Joe Biden, the involvement of women in the peace efforts has been sidelined once again through the mention of the phrase “meaningful participation” instead of “equal participation”. Devaluing the role and importance of Afghan women once again, it comes as a surprise that this however comes from the United States instead of the Afghan government or even the Taliban forces. It is only even more infuriating that this orientalist and sexist mindset upheld through the peace plan prompts us to sadly raise the question: What is the fundamental difference between the two forces in their actions and treatment towards women, even in the twenty-first century? It is a widely acknowledged fact that women have been facing and suffering in a rather lop-sided manner since the inception of war in the country. Unlike men, the struggle of many Afghan women began from inside their own homes, which was only made worse with the radicalized ideas endorsed by the militant forces.

The peacebuilding efforts helmed by the United States which systematically relegates women once again to the peripheries of the Afghan society, clearly undermines the UN Resolution 1325, which mandates both the importance as well as the requirement to ensure the involvement of women in the peacekeeping efforts of their particular nation. Even though the Resolution was applied and successfully implemented first in the country of Colombia, the resolution, however, has not borne any success yet in Afghanistan. The resolution also becomes particularly important because it displays the inextricable relationship between women and the peacebuilding of a nation. Supported by numerous research papers and other evidence gathered by social scientists, there is a highly positive relationship between the involvement of womanhood in peace processes and the chances of the establishment of peace and happiness in the nation. Standing at an unusual juncture today where there are enough tensions between several democratic and non-democratic forces within Afghanistan itself, the unexpected move first by the Trump administration and now under Biden himself, has not only created the potential concern of the militant forces coming back to power and in turn transforming the gradually changing-for-the-better lives of women, but has also created the possibility of other conservative Afghan forces coming into power at the cost of the continuous marginalization of women in conflict resolution.

Thus, it is high time that the proposed peace plan endorses inclusivity and champions peace and development, which is only possible by emancipating and involving the womanhood of Afghanistan to heal the rather fresh wounds inflicted upon the nation that once stood in peace and happiness because SHE MATTERS! PERIOD.