- Undoubtedly, the despicable conditions and unmitigated horror stories being perpetrated upon Afghan women by the Talibani leadership without any remorse or humane considerations should not have any place in the present day. The misogynistic, patriarchal, and inhuman acts of restrictions on Afghan women cannot be condoned nor encouraged by the civilized world. When the global community harps on gender equality, parity, and level playing fields, the Talibani leadership resorting to medieval practices is simply anachronistic. We know how the United States of America-led coalition peace forces wound up their operations in the troubled nation by handing over the reins of the battered nation to the Taliban.
PC: freepik
- But the ultra-conservative and extremely fundamentalistic mindset of the Taliban leadership has turned up its attention to subjugating Afghan women rather than concentrating its energies on reviving the failed nation. Thus, the plight of the women increasingly gets suffocating with one or the other form of restrictions being announced by the jehadi fundamentalists. Forget about freedom of movement even the attainment of education is becoming barred for hapless women. Mind you, the Taliban have barred them from high school and university education, banned them from working in government offices, and local, and international NGOs, and placed serious restrictions on their movement as well.
- Against this backdrop, Denmark’s recent landmark decision that it will grant asylum to all women and girls from Afghanistan solely based on their gender needs to be emulated by other nations. The decision was taken citing the worsening condition of Afghan women and girls since the Taliba’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Further, Sweden too had announced a similar policy in December last. True, large sections of the Afghan population as a whole are facing dire circumstances. Unfortunately, there is acute hunger and the local economy is in tatters as mentioned above. There is no escaping from the hardships as is the case with several Muslim nations, Afghan women are doubly discriminated against too.
PC: freepik
- Needless to mention, these are major violations of basic human rights. Thankfully, the ever-friendly and helpful Government of India has expressed concerns about these developments. Mind you, India introduced the e-Emergency X-Misc Visa after the fall of Kabul, for which an estimated 60,000 Afghans applied in 2021. But by December of that year, only 200 such visas were issued. Agreed, there are security considerations here but giving emergency visas to Afghan women and girls after proper processing shouldn’t be a problem. India extending this lifeline to Afghanistan’s women and girls will save them from their tragic fate. This is the least expected from a well-wisher and a credible stakeholder like India in Afghanistan’s development.
