mELEK74 again!
53 year old Afghan widow, Jan Bibi, chose to pour gasoline over her body and light herself on fire rather than continue her desperate life. As an aging muslim woman - with no husband - she was on the bottom rung of Afghan life and considered a pariah of society. She had little chance of finding work due to her gender and even less chance of finding a new husband due to her age. So a painful, skin blistering-flesh charring death by fire seemed the only solution to her desolate situation.
Recently President Barack Obama declared that the USA is losing the War in Afghanistan and discussed talking with the "moderate" Taliban in Afghanistan. What might these "moderates" want as concessions?
"One expert comments that "a few months ago, Taliban leaders, believed to be moderate, indicated the three points that for them are nonnegotiable: that all the soldiers from other countries leave; that there be no foreign interference in Afghan politics; and that sharia (Islamic law) be applied." LINK
Thus Obama´s publicized thoughts of "reaching out" to the Taliban are cause for consternation and fear particularly among the Afghan women - many who hope the United States presence in Afghanistan will increase the success of democracy and offer continuing hope and positive change to their grim existence under the Taliban/Sharia Law rule.
"Fear is widespread that a new Taliban regime would mean "going backward." Analysts observe that the only results of this long war and its immense cost in human lives and money may be the better conditions for women, and democracy. Democracy is still weak, to such an extent that Karzai has delayed until August the elections scheduled for April, because of the difficult situation."
""The evolution of this country is in the hands of women. Under the Taliban, women could not even go to school, they were forced to stay home and endure forced marriages." LINK
AND
"The Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 forced women to stay at home and banned them from appearing in public without a body-covering burqa. Much has improved since then: Millions of girls now attend school, and many women own businesses. Of 351 parliamentarians, 89 are women. On Saturday, a female lawmaker, Shalah Attah, said she will run for president in this year´s election, now set for August." LINK
Afghan women now only have to look across a nearby border to see strictly imposed Sharia Law in the Swat Valley - located in nothwestern Pakistan. This area was recently sacrificed by the Pakistani government in order to appease the militant Taliban -- in a "peace" agreement. Apparently past experience was discounted:
"This cease-fire smacks of a similar deal the previous government of Pervez Musharraf arranged in Pakistan´s tribal areas in 2006. That deal created a Taliban sanctuary and led to sharp increases in terrorist attacks, both in Afghanistan and the Pakistan heartland. Sufi Mohammed has signed three previous pacts with various Pakistani governments extending the writ of Islamic law. None mollified the extremists; each invited the next round of violent demands." LINK
Thus it should come as no surprise that the "peace" was swiftly broken:
"Yet no sooner was the deal signed than a Pakistani journalist was murdered while covering a "peace march" organized by Sufi Mohammed -- the 20th journalist killed around Swat in two years." LINK
There is currently little evidence that the Taliban, in Afghanistan, would be any different.
President Obama needs to think long and hard about any appeasement of the Taliban and any level of condoning Sharia Law - to do so would be giant leap backwards for the nation and particularly it´s brave women ----- ensuring that the piercing screams from burning muslim Afghan women - like Jan Bibi - will be deafening.
PS. this woman is ungrateful. she should take life as it is.