Let
us take a moment
out of your day to
contemplate yourheroic, beautiful women,
be they mothers or daughters,
sisters or wives. Bearers
of your children and nurturers of
your homes.
How can you for one
moment
justify your treatment
of them?
It has been said:
"God made
women from the
rib of of Adam,
Not from his foot to
be trodden on by him,
Nor from his fist to
be abused by him,
But from under his arm,
to be protected
by him
And from close to his
heart, to be cherished
by him* |
When you threw in your
lot with the Taliban rabble, how did you protect or cherish them?
The Taliban imprisoned
them in the dinge of their homes and you acquiesced, even
though the dogs and the cats ran free.
And when they
were allowed to emerge, they forced them into
a worse prison, that of the dreadful,
stifling burqa.
And still you acquiesced.
When they were
beaten
for the slightest infraction
of their
“rules”, and even shot
for who knows what in the eyes of your Taliban, again you
acquiesced.
Where was your protection
then? How many of you stood up in outrage?
While you and
your “warriors”
were sitting picking
the sand
from your toes, deciding
which of your enemies should diethat
day, your women
sat home trying to keep your
children alive long enough
for
the nightmare to be over.
While you were
drinking tea and eating food stolen from the mouths of your babes,
rejoicing over
the next day’s expected
victory, your women were trying to nourish their children
on mouldy bread and water, agonizing over which of
them would be the first to
die of malnutrition
or the disease that inevitably
accompanies it.
While you grieved over
your fallen comrades, your womenburied your dead children.
And still you
did nothing.
There is not a nation
on God’s earth that does not elevate its women, or celebrate their beauty,
or rejoice in their intelligence and compassion.
Except perhaps yours and the few other lands that
share your views.
It must terrify
you, then,
when you learn that your women cannot be bowed, no matter
how many times you beat them or
threaten them. The
women who
were once held in such
high regard as teachers
and doctors, nurses and lawyers, judges and politicians,
and yes, homemakers, have, as always in history, risen above their situation,
and triumphed.
The once and
still proud
women of Afghanistan
and their sisters have found within
themselves the courage that you
lack. They have drawn
upon it and in doing so, shame you.
The teachers, who on pain
of death, still gather in secretplaces each day to educate
children so that their young minds can be stimulated and their lives given
some dignity.
Who teach not the ravings of some mad mullah, but the wisdom
of the ages.
The nurses and
doctors
who care for their sisters
and their children,
whom you will
not permit to be treated, and in doing so save lives while risking
their
own.
The thousands
who give
comfort, having nothing
else to give.
When you look
back on your heroes of this time,
you need look no further than your
glorious,
proud, beaten but never bowed women. Look on them with pride.
For they are the true
heroes of Afghanistan! And then, perhaps you will learn how to protect
and cherish them.
Just as, in spite of all
their terrible trials and tribulations, they protected and cherished you.
It may be well
that you
keep them in the burqa for a little longer.
It hides their beautiful eyes, and it may be
that looking into those eyes would make you
tremble in fear.
And you would have cause to.
To all of the brave and
courageous women , keep strong!
When your men
have been long forgotten, you will
be remembered.
I promise you, the world
will not forget!
History will not forget!
And God will not forget!
* Anonymous |
