How Many Times Is the First Time? Short Look at Social Change and History of the Women’S Movement in Afghanistan (1) by Nasrine Gross

On the Occasion of the International Woman’s Day 2013: How Many Times is the First Time? Short Look at Social Change and History of the Women’s Movement in Afghanistan (1) By Nasrine Gross

Social change is a major topic in sociology. Here I only touch upon a few salient points, by way of introduction to a short history of the women’s movement in Afghanistan.(2)

First, social change happens in every society of the world whether we like it or not. For example, just the fact that no generation is exactly like the generation of its parents is in itself social change. In my father’s generation, the exact start time of the Ramazan breakfast was announced by a naqaara to the entire community; in my generation, with an alarm clock in every home. Then, almost every household had a tanor to bake bread; today, we buy our bread from the bakery.(3)

Second point, social change does not occur in the same way in every place. In Kabul it is one way, in Chaa-aab, for example, in another way, and in Mazar-e Sharif or Kandahar in yet another way. Social change is affected by its local environment or life style of that area and cannot be an exception to it or run away from it.

Third, nobody can stop social change. On any given moment society is changing in several directions. Why? Because the conditions and requirements of time and place change: When you change the place, human beings change. And when time changes, so also do human beings. For example, a hundred years ago, women in Afghanistan wore dollaaq, but now, time has changed, young people do not know about it and nobody wears it. In other words, people adapt themselves to the conditions and

1 needs of their own time and place. This point carries with it one of the most important points about social change: Human society always updates itself and moving on and modernizing (updating) is an inseparable part of human society - - the same way that not forgetting the past and having a historical perspective, whether it is tradition or religion or… is an important element. Some experts have called God the most important historian that has designed the entire universe from the beginning to infinity and is writing non-stop on a continuum.(4)

Fourth, social change has a tempo, a speed, and this speed is different in different places (as well as in different times). In some places the speed is faster and in others, it is slower, more sluggish. Kabul city, we say is very advanced; in other words, the speed of social change there is fast and it can digest new issues easily and fast. While, Chaa-aab might not be as advanced as Kabul and the speed of social change there is slower than Kabul. Of course, social change in Mazar-e Sharif compared to Chaa-aab is faster, and compared to Kabul slower (with so much progress that Mazar-e Sharif has had in the last decade, it may be debatable that Kabul is faster. But that is another story). In the USA also, New York City is a place of fast social change, while a small town in an agricultural state like Iowa, may be 30 or 40 years behind and the speed of its social change much slower (the perennial joke among peoples of these two areas is that New Yorkers tease Iowans and Iowans these city-folk for their respective speeds of change and each denies the natural situation of the other.) At the same time, the speed of social change in our very “advanced” Kabul, compared to New York, is very slow, and, in New York, compared to Kabul, mind-boggling! In other words, when we say society is changing it does not mean that this change comes or should come the exact same way and at the exact same time, everywhere!

2 For social change to succeed, one other point is very important, and that is the existence of a critical mass. A couple of people can start it but for it to take off, the existence of a large enough group of people in different areas such as education, economy, administration, art, politics, etc. is necessary to expand this change and popularize it - - and give it legitimacy. This critical mass must be large enough to be able to pull the rest with it and execute the change. For example, in India that has a population of about 1.1 billion, only about 700 million of them are literate. But this is a critical mass as it has not only already made India the PhD making factory of the world but also a nuclear power, and soon will make it one of the superpowers of the world. In other words, these 700 million literate and educated people pull the other 400 million illiterates with them (perhaps these numbers are not exactly correct but they make the point).(5)

And this point brings out another important tenet of social change: Social change cannot happen in the total upheaval a la Marxism but rather it progresses brick by brick and part by part - - as demonstrated in the Communism’s practical and historical failed experiment in the twentieth century.

But, and this is a very important but, today, in the developing countries, the regular social change that is automatic is very slow. And therefore, side by side with regular social change, some other things must be purposefully done to effect a more organized social change and speed it up. So that, these countries, as soon as possible, can have a give and take with the advanced world on a more or less equal basis and be able to partake of the fruits of humanity’s advances, as common inheritors, and also better develop their capability to no longer be deceived by the world which still believes and has expertise in colonialism and

3 does it by means of social engineering and propaganda. Most experts believe that the best way of getting out of the quandary in these countries is through public literacy and education. However, this road is unfortunately too slow. It takes 12 years just to graduate from high school. University and other degrees take more years. In other words, the developing countries must do things that would organize and speed up social change. The five year plans, strategic and tactical plans, long and short term plans and prioritizing programs with these, are all for this specific purpose.(6)

Modernization was often called Westernization when much experience and academic knowledge for it was lacking, and, also its benefits and results were mostly felt in the West. Gradually and with the experience of the entire world with this phenomenon, in the last one hundred years, especially after the two world wars, the knowledge bases for it have filled up and better methods of modernization been well-documented.(7) The world has also realized that disciplines of knowledge and advances are not just the sole property of the industrialized advanced world of the West but they are the common legacy of all the peoples and countries of the world who have contributed in various ways in the creation of knowledge, industry and advancement. Although if the truth be told the West has worked very hard and in a focused way in this endeavor, today it is an accepted fact that all this knowledge, industry and advancement, in its foundation, has derived from all the other civilizations of the world, which are much older than the Western one! And it is a non-truthful, unjust and arrogant way to consider it belonging only to the West and forgetting the others’ share. Therefore, today’s knowledge, industry and advancement belong to all humanity.

4 With what we have said thus far, I have developed the following preliminary and general definition of modernization: Modernization is the process of adapting and updating a society’s culture and traditions to the conditions and requirements of the present time and place. Modernization, instead of destroying our cultural and religious identity, actually polishes it. For example, with a little attention, we in Afghanistan can better understand our culture, history and religion if with the help of literacy and education we can read our own documents and the translation of our holy book ourselves and build our own knowledge ourselves!

Back to the women’s movement, which is about women’s social participation, about women’s role in society. Why do we need a women’s movement? We can say: Why not when men and women both are the highest of God’s creatures? Why not when their human dignity is the same? Why not when their human rights are the same? Why not when they both have the same brain and heart? Really, in the simplest of explanations, three hundred years ago, in the most powerful and most advanced country on earth, England (or the Ottoman Empire), life outside the home was simple enough that men could take care of all of it and did not need women’s help. And so, most women stayed home. Today, since the twentieth century, on the one hand life has become so complex that men alone cannot carry out all its chores and need women’s help, and on the other, advances in housekeeping have facilitated the situation so women do have more time on their hands and can help outside the home.

In relation to the women’s movement, currently, one point has become very important: The difference that exists between sexual issues and gender relations. Sexual issues are between a married couple in their bedroom, for which even God in the Koran admonishes children and other members of the household not to

5 enter the parents’ bedroom without permission!(8) Although sexual relations in every society are in the framework of the institution of family, have their own regulations and are part of the ethics system of that society, but in general sexual issues are very private between husband and wife, don’t take place in public, and are not discussed with the family and others unless there are reproductive issues. Gender relations, on the contrary, do not have any connection to sexual relations but rather refer to the collection of all habits in a society that relate to what is masculine (mardaana) and what is feminine (zanaana): Stone cutting and quarry work is considered masculine and raising kids is feminine, muscle power is masculine and emotional sympathy is feminine, saraacha is men’s place while family room is women’s place… likewise, in the not so distant past, the work of inside the house belonged to women, and the work of outside the house belonged to men (the Ottoman expressions of andaroon and beeroon).

Today, it is very clear that these social divisions are not realistic and do not serve the conditions and requirements of this time and place. There must be changes to them and, for success, no society can run away from these changes. In a very general way, we can see that much of the work outside the home is in the natural - - and professional ability of women, and likewise, much of the work inside the home is in the natural power and mental agility of men. Therefore, gender relations (mainstreaming) tries to smooth out this inequality and unevenness without hurting the dignity of either men or women, and attempts to distribute equally and evenly the entire work of society. I must point out that this gender mainstreaming has faced resistance from men all over the world, but most often it has taken place. I must also reiterate that it is gender relations that is at issue in the women’s movement and not sexual issues, not at all!

6 So, to recap, today, women’s participation in society has a very tight relationship with modernization. In the remainder of the article I will try to present a historical summary of this movement in Afghanistan.

Although modernization and social change in Afghanistan in the last one hundred and fifty years has had different interpretations and with the coming of different rulers has sometimes been revisionist but it has taken place.(9) Perhaps we can say that modernization in Afghanistan started with the reign of Amir Sher Ali Khan. He had noticed that Afghanistan and the world of Islam had remained backward and this backwardness was causing many problems. He wanted to start with the government and modernize it. One problem was that if the government wanted to provide services to the populace - - and increase its rule, how a government employee could easily be recognized as its representative when everyone in society wore the same pirantunban and was illiterate! One way was to have a special outfit (uniform) for these officials that went among the people. So, for the police and the tax collector the government created specific clothes consisting of a pair of trousers with a belt and a long sleeved shirt, with specific color, for the police, blue, for the tax collector, green. This modernizing by means of clothes, it was perhaps the first time at least since the time of the Great Kaneshka almost two thousand years ago, that Afghan men wore a different clothing other than pirantunban, and it showed that different life styles can be distinguished with different types of clothing (After two thousand years! That soon, eh?!). And, the women’s issue was not even part of the agenda yet!(10)

During the time of Amir Abdul-Rahman Khan, modernization continued. Not only some laws were drawn - - an important

7 component of modernization, but also the Amir had hired for himself a foreign female nurse/doctor, that lived in the Palace. Also, the Amir’s wife and queen, Bibi Halima known as Bobo Jaan-e Jegha Daar (the lady with the tiara) had a lot of authority both inside and outside the Palace. For example, on a weekly basis Bobo Jaan strolled, on horseback, the Kabul bazaars to get the pulse of the populace. During these outings, she did not wear a scarf but the Jegha and her entourage just warned people not to look directly at the queen’s face.(11)

Modernization during the reign of Amir Habibullah Khan became more pronounced and continued with drawing of laws and establishment of the first modern high school for boys, the Habibia High School, etc. During this same period, the return of a few exiled families from India and the Ottoman Empire, whose entire family, themselves, wives and male and female children had been educated in those parts and were used to modern ways, became a good role model for the modernization program. In addition, for the first time, there was use of women as a political tool, to this extent: The Amir married more than forty women, in most cases, each of whom was the daughter of an influential man from a different region of Afghanistan. These unions wonderfully ensured Amir’s relations with these regions. (12)

According to Toryalay Etemadi, the Amir’s grandson and former president of Kabul University, most probably, it was during the Habibullah’s reign or towards end of Abdul-Rahman’s that for the first time, just the upper class women, started wearing the chadari (burqa) and dollaaq, which had actually come from India. The writer also has a photocopy of a wood etching from 17th or 18th century that shows several women in chadari in an Indian cloth market. The chadari is exactly how it is today, only on top of

8 the head, there is a pompom! I remember when I was a young girl, this pompom was still used in Kabul.(13)

King Amanullah, 1919 – 1929, gave modernization an organization and speed. In my opinion he brought social change from several angles and four of them were directly related to the women’s movement: by means of education, clothes, employment in offices outside the home, and the Loya Jirga.(14) The first girl’s school, Esmat, was opened by the king’s sister. A second school was housed in Bostaan Saraaye, Abdul-Rahman’s Palace and Bobo Jaan’s Villa. The late Roqia (Abubakr) Habib (coincidentally and fortunately my mother) was a third grade student in this school, and one day her classmate, Zohra Naim, daughter of Nader Shah and later Prince Naim’s wife, told her “Tomorrow, don’t come to school because there will be war.”(15) And, the first group of girls was sent outside the country to Turkey for studying, among them several of the king’s sisters and daughters of high government officials.(16) and (17)

For modernization by means of clothes, King Amanullah told office men to dress in trousers with a belt and a long sleeve shirt and a business jacket, and, outside, put on a hat. And, he told women that instead of the dress gathered in the waist and a long tunban, to wear a dress below the knee, appropriate underwear with nylon stockings, and instead of chadari, to wear a hat with a transparent face cover. Of course, not all, but rather women of the elites, and those of the families of officials and important businessmen. And he made his own wife, Queen Soraya who had been educated in Damascus of the Ottoman Empire and was a good speaker especially about women’s role in Islam and her responsibilities to the family and society, the first woman to do so. If I am not mistaken, for the first time in the gathering of the Stor Palace in the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

9 Amanullah’s program of modernization was also by means of employing women in offices. Not only some women of the court and others were working in the schools, in the women’s publication and in the hospital but also he appointed people like the late Hajera, daughter of Kohan Del Khan and wife of Omar Jaan, son of Amir Abdul-Rahman Khan, the director of the match producing factory located on Darul-Aman Road (She later became the head usher of Malalay High School, during my time, very strict and God save us from her beatings with fresh and wet branches!). Then too, King Amanullah furthered the social role of women by means of including them in the Loya Jirga. In the Paghman Loya Jirga, there were several women as members.

All this reform had created an ambiance of happy anticipation and hope among the people. Many Kabuli families worked with him and not only received his reforms warmly but also cooperated with him in the women’s movement. For example, my maternal grandmother, the late Zainab Habib, who herself was literate and whose brother-in-law was the king’s finance minister, was one of the people who, with her husband’s nod, followed this request. Even though she wore chadari again for a period but in the Daud’s women’s emancipation, again gave it up for good and when she passed away 37 years ago at the age of ninety still did not wear chadari. She was a hajjia and did not miss her prayers five times a day and her monthly full Koran recitation (khatm), but after she became a widow, she wore a dress with long tunban and a small see-through georgette scarf. (She taught me namaaz and I often and thankfully remember her).

All the stories I have heard at home bear witness to this point that a lot of people were for these reforms. Unfortunately, that necessary critical mass was missing; the number of people who

10 understood the reforms and could pull others with them was small! Also, in my opinion, in those days and for a long time, the process of modernization had not become a discipline of knowledge so that it could be explained properly to the people. Everyone called it Westernization, which in a deep and rich civilization such as that of Afghanistan understandably created sensitivities.

And we should not forget that it is said that the people rebelled against Amanullah’s reforms and to this day we are fed that he went too fast and the people did not want his reforms and they kicked him out! In actuality, King Amanullah had made moves in his foreign policy towards Communist Russia. Colonial Britain which was in our eastern neighborhood did not want this. By means of propaganda, Colonial Britain inflamed the Mullahs and people, that said something like ‘see his wife has become a bad woman and he will delinquent your wives too and stain your honor, and all this is against your traditions and your religion!’ The people believed the deception of the propaganda, and rebelled. And I believe that the same way that when a lie is told ten times, on the eleventh time, even the liar believes it as truth, to this day the people believe this untruth so much about their traditions and religion on the one hand and modernization on the other, that very few Afghan politicians are found who would give legitimacy to modernization or its supporters. Everyone gives Amanullah’s haste in reform as a reason for failure and say they do not want to repeat it - - a way to delay (stop?) the speed of change! New and old colonial powers still use this ruse.(18)

During the reign of Habibullah Kalakani, 1929 - 1930, the girls’ schools were closed. Chadari and dollaaq returned. But if we read the other side of this period’s really revisionist history, in the nine months of his reign, Habibullah Kalakani did not punish in any

11 way, the girls, the women and the families that participated in Amanullah’s reforms. Neither was there any disrespect towards the court women who were by then prisoners in the Palace. Also, he kept with utmost respect and without any dishonor, the aristocratic young woman that he supposedly fell in love with, in the Palace.(19) and (20) It is important to note that he never issued fetwas against men for the length of their beard, nor beat women for going shopping without a male relative escorting them.

One of the first actions of Nader Shah, 1930 – 1933, was to reopen the Esmat and Bostaan Saraaye schools inside the Arg (Palace) - - for the daughters of Amir Habibullah, his own sister and cousins and daughters of some of the officials. After a year and some time, they moved the school to the Andaraabi quarter of town, and out of fear of uprising, called it the midwifery school, on the pretext that Afghanistan needed midwives. Half of the girls studied midwifery and the other half regular school!(21) In this way, women’s social role in education, health and employment outside the home, although very slowly, was expanding and the Isteqlaal High School had also opened.

During Zaher Shah’s time, 1933 - 1973, the upper grades of the Andaraabi school were moved to the newly built Malalay High School so they would learn till eleventh grade. A year later, the other half of the Andaraabi school was moved to Bostaan Saraaye and became the Zarghouna High School. Later the midwifery part was moved to the Masturaat Hospital complex. Soon, establishing of more schools picked up speed such as Rabia Balkhi in Kabul, Sultana Razia in Mazar-e Sharif, Nazo Ana in Kandahar and Makhfee Badakhshee in Faizabad, for girls, and a larger number for boys such as Naderia High School in Kabul and Sultan Ghiyassuddeen in Cheghcheran. Concurrently, in 1946 the

12 Women’s Institute was established to promote women’s capacities and it started functioning actively and successfully first in the city and then in the villages.

And then during the premiership of Prince Daud, 1951 – 1961, in 1959 (1338) once again the women’s emancipation or giving up of the chadari started; it was said that it was time for women, if they and their families wanted, not to wear the chadari. The government actually started very properly with women who were educated and married and had children. In other words, women who had a social weight. Roqia Abubakr, the announcer for the evening news at the government-owned radio station was the first to officially go to work without chadari in late May. When she returned home after two hours, everyone anxiously asked her how it went. She said “Nothing happened. When I entered the office everyone clapped.”(22) The following week Latifa Kabir Seraj, also an announcer, came to the radio station also without a chadari. The clothes (outfit) these women wore consisted of an overcoat to under the knees with long sleeves and gloves, beige nylon stockings with appropriate under garments, high heels and a small scarf that tied under the chin, and of course makeup, but not too showy - - professional, modest and ethical!(23) This way of coming out without a chadari in ones and twos continued all throughout summer with a big buzz and sense of expectancy in Kabul as everyone wanted to prepare this acceptable outfit for herself! Until in early September during the independence celebrations, in the Ghazi Stadium, Zaher Shah brought with him his wife Shah Khanum Queen Homaira, the daughter of Ahmad Shah Khan, the Minister of Court, and Prince Daud brought with him his wife, Zainab, daughter of Nader Shah and sister of Zaher Shah, both without chadari and wearing the national dress! After this, the process of ruy-lochee among civil service got au courant in both the capital and provinces, and soon increased the number

13 of women working outside the home. Only in Kandahar there was an incident but it did not stop the process anywhere. Here also, the important points are that the ruy-lochee was on a totally voluntary basis with familial consent, and for all religious activities such as namaaz, going to the mosque or fateha, and reading the Koran, the usual long sleeve dress with long pantaloons and a scarf was normal. This type of outfit and the chadari itself were never forbidden and in fact many people still wore them.(24) & (25)

In other words, during Zaher Shah, they furthered the women’s movement with such means as education, work outside the home, social functions, passing of laws, government service and business activities. Concurrent, a critical mass of educated and professional group of men and women was being formed that had a tremendous impact on social change. Two incomes in one family raised the standard of living and opportunities. No girl graduate of a high school had to wait for a year to find a job or a husband! Even men who opposed the women’s movement were looking for female graduates to marry!

The constitution of 1964 recognized all rights of men and women but did not mention women specifically saying that the article of the law says ‘every Afghan’ and that means both men and women. In the subsequent parliamentary elections four women won seats: Khadija Ahrary from Herat, Massouma Wardak from Kandahar, and Anahita Ratebzad and Roqia Abubakr from Kabul. During this period also civil code came into being, for example the civil code of marriage was passed in the Parliament. At the same time, the Official Gazette was began that published all passed laws, from the Ministry of Justice for public consumption.(26)

14 In my opinion, the best success of Zaher Shah’s reign in forty years of peace was the building of this critical mass of educated Afghan men and women. The level in several directions including literacy, health, income, living standard, social welfare, arts, infrastructure, and others was increasing and gave modernization both legitimacy and speed.(27), (28) & (29)

This progress and social change continued in the same manner during the republic of Prince Daud, 1973-1979.

During the Communist period, 1979 - 1992, they were able to increase the volume and speed of the women’s movement. They opened schools to everyone and increased women’s employment outside the home. Also, the Communists insisted on women’s political participation at the level of ideology and party. The monarchy and republic’s critical mass really helped them because if their coup had happened at the beginning of Zaher Shah’s reign they could not have achieved the advancements in the women’s movement, as there existed neither enough teachers nor a critical mass of the educated.

We know that during this period the Afghan people were in Jehad against communism and the Soviet occupation. Unfortunately, with all these programs, the Communist state - - which in the words of the late Dr. Samad Hamed “the Communists also had an aspiration,” at the same time dealt the biggest blows to the body of the Afghan nation as a whole and especially to women: How many millions of women prematurely lost a loved breadwinner, a husband, son, father or brother and suffered the consequences of impoverishment for life? How many millions of people lost their entire land and home? How many millions became refugees either internally or to other countries? How many millions of women became the most vulnerable residents of refugee camps? How

15 many Afghan girls and children became victims of all kinds of indignity? Although the situation was better in the cities and in the countryside all these problems were exacerbated with the policy of burned soil with napalm and destruction of villages, but all of these things including the Communists’ lax attitude towards alcohol and sexual relations, doled out a terrible blow to the women’s movement.

When the Mujaheddin came, 1992 – 1996, they also put some pressure and insisted that women wore a dress and long baggy pants and a large scarf. But the Mujaheddin did not declare any fetwa against women although one was written but was never signed. They did not change the social role of women. All schools and university were open to the female population. In fact, because most men were either in the fronts or had migrated with their families to other countries or had died in Jehad, according to Dr. Abdullah, then the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, the number of women in the government, the number of women in the school system and the number of women in the health sector, all was more than their male counterparts.(30)

And in my own opinion who because of my participation in the Resistance against the Taliban consider myself a Mujahed, albeit a very minor one, the reticence and strictness of the Mujaheddin had several reasons: One, they had just come from daar al harb and were not prepared for the conditions and requirements of daar al islam.(31) Two, the Mujaheddin looked at everything totally from the standpoint of communism and godlessness and treated it in a defensive manner; they did not give legitimacy to advances made prior to the communist coup. Third, the majority of the Mujaheddin had spent their migration period in one of the two countries of Iran and Pakistan and were used to the dress outfits of those countries, manto and large chador for Iran and

16 Panjabi for Pakistan, and thought they were alright for Afghanistan too. And then too, the Mujaheddin who perforce had conducted their struggle in the rural areas, were accustomed to the rural culture and traditions and did not think those would cause any problems in the cities, while really there are important differences in the urban and rural cultures as are in the social change of the two.

Unfortunately, in this period, for the first time in Afghanistan, women were used as a weapon of war! It is said that some rival groups tried to hurt and dishonor women of the other side in order to break the morale of the other side. This is something that has put all sides under some shadow and needs to be verified.(32)

But when the Taliban came, 1996-2001, they negated all inalienable rights of women by means of fetwa. Fetwa is nothing but a religious law. In other words, the Taliban made Afghan women devoid of rights by legal means. This was the first time in the history of humanity that the inalienable rights of human beings were destroyed using laws, religious laws or sharia at that. Half of the population of Afghanistan did not have any legal existence except marriage and lived by compulsion and force of fetwa! The impact of this was such that in six short years the economy, standard of living, literacy and health of the people came down to their lowest denominations, below the calculations of international indices. Afghan women were being used as a religious weapon for political gains.

We should remember that in this period also - - and by now the whole world agrees - - the Taliban were not an Afghan agenda but rather a colonial agenda of Pakistan for Afghanistan. It is very surprising that the leaders of Pakistan, for the girls and women of

17 their own country, considered education and work outside the house, within the confines of modernization and the women’s movement, totally Islamic and encouraged their own population to participate, even their prime minister was a woman. But they considered these things un-Islamic and un-Afghan for Afghanistan! The Prime Minister Lady who was educated in England and America, to further her own country’s aims, followed a double standard vis-a-vis Afghan women and modernization - - i.e., success of - - Afghanistan! And once more, the Afghan woman and her presence in society were used as a tool for failing Afghanistan!(33)

During the same period, fortunately, the Resistance of the Mujaheddin was going on, 1996 – 2001. With all the difficulties that the Mujaheddin faced, all the girls’ schools in their areas were open and women worked outside the home, such as in the television station or hospital in Faizabad. Literacy for older girls and women was also pursued in Gulbahar and elsewhere (first with a mud wall as writing board and charcoal as chalk), headed by the educated Zohal Zara, who was the wife of the minister of education of the Resistance. Schools were ongoing in the internal refugees’ camps such as Unaaba and Dashtak. The women’s civil society was alive and well, like the Association of Women Engineers, the Association of Women Candy Makers, and the Association of Afghan Women. I remember that on the International Women’s Day 2001, Shoukria Haidar, President of Negar in Paris and I myself from Washington, wished well the women of Parwan, Kapisa and Panjsher in their gatherings, via the telephone. Especially, the wives of leaders were more active then than the wives of today’s leaders: Mrs. Farida Rabbani with the orphanage in Faizabad, Mrs. Parigul Massoud with the school in Jangalak headed by Hawa Jaan, and Mrs. Zarghoona Qanooni with the civil society, worked very hard.(34)

18 At the same time, the Islamic State of Afghanistan led by President Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud supported the Declaration of the Essential Rights of Afghan Women, in which Afghan women had asked for the restoration of all their inalienable rights in a written Constitution. Even a group from the conference, attended by not only Afghan women but also women from Europe and America as well as from a number of countries from the world of Islam and Arab countries, accepting great danger to all, was able to take the Declaration to Ahmad Shah Massoud in Panjsher, and he heroically signed the support statement, becoming the first political leader to do so.(35)

In my opinion, these activities by the leaders of the Resistance continued to the end: Among them, Ahmad Shah Massoud’s trip to Europe, Yunoss Qanooni and Ahmad Wali Masoud’s all-Afghan conferences held in Europe including London, Dr. Abdullah’s talks and town-hall meetings in several American cities including Washington, D.C., President and Mrs. Rabbani’s meetings with the group of European and American women in Faizabad, Haji Qadeer’s support of girls’ schools in Nangarhar, all bear an undeniable witness to a robust belief in the importance of the women’s movement in modernization - - and success - - of Afghanistan, among the Resistance leaders!

And this attention continued even after Ahmad Shah Massoud’s assassination on September 9, 2001: On the day of his wake at his house in Jangalak, in front of about 700 women, Parigul Massoud, herself in deep mourning, allowed the writer to obtain support signatures. She even asked a well-known Mujahed woman, Mariam Panjsheri, to escort the unknown and unfamiliar me and introduce me to the women. Also, during these mourning days (Afghan wake is forty days), the Resistance leaders helped

19 the women’s group to collect support signatures from various places such as internal refugee camps of Unaaba and Dashtak, Ushturgram and Malalay schools, Al-Biruni University, Association of Women Handcrafters, Bagram Airfield and its environs and other areas. These activities clearly imparted to us women an expectant hope for a future in which the women’s movement would be accepted and irreversible!

The period after the Taiban, December 2001 to present, had a very good beginning when not only the leaders and all the peoples of Afghanistan but also the international community and in fact women of Europe, America, a majority of the world of Islam including Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, were totally with us on the issue of the women’s movement within modernization of Afghanistan. During this time, a larger number of women’s rights activists and all-Afghan civil society from inside Afghanistan and various countries including Germany, the United States and India worked hard and accomplished the goals of the Declaration to have all the rights in the Constitution - - that was a great victory for Afghanistan. Especially the work of members of the Drafting and Revision Commissions of the Constitution is worthy of mention: It was them that added the expression ‘including man and woman” in the article of the law to ensure equality. Today, in spite of so many problems, the Afghan Parliament is a terrific example of this equality: Every day, the male representatives, just by sitting side by side with their female counterparts, negate the enemies’ lies and accusations - - as do cadres in other offices of government, business, universities, security forces and such.

Other important steps of this period include: The establishment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to pay specific attention to women’s issues and promote gender relations in a more equitable

20 manner underscores the importance of women in today’s Afghanistan. The Shi’a Personal Law, which is based on the Constitution’s recognition that the Shi’as of Afghanistan needed their own religious law, a first time in the country, although inept, proved that not only civil law can be passed by the Parliament but so can religious law or Sharia! Also, the four general elections for the president, provincial councils and the parliament, although fraught with problems, proved that men and women have the same weight: each has only that one vote! In this regard, the ever increasing credibility of the political opposition groups not only strengthens the gains but also confirms to the citizenry that platforms and negotiations are a better way of solving the inter- Afghan discord than the barrel of a gun, and are the best use of people and nation’s natural powers and abilities. In addition, the return of millions of refugees from abroad injects new ideas and new methods for tailoring an Afghan-style social change and modernization including women’s rights.(36)

But at the same time, the problems in this period are also more pronounced: Some internal vacuums and some chronic external problems have added to the difficulties. Small thinking of some groups that think any change must happen at the same time and the same way all over Afghanistan, against the grain of social change, unimagined poverty, rampant illiteracy, administrative corruption and artificially creating divisions, are some of the more major roadblocks.

But for me, the political situation, or the enemies’ deception, is the most important difficulty. The regional powers are very involved in this. Some of them ostensibly do not want that this war-torn, backward, illiterate and impoverished Afghanistan gains on them in the women’s movement; it would become problematic for their own control within their borders! While in actuality, by

21 derailing modernization and the women’s movement in Afghanistan they want to have once again control of events in their own hands. It seems that they put pressure on the international community and more and more on the Afghan society - - and its leadership so as to send this process again to the swamp of failure. There are even rumors that some of them want, by means of the extremist political Islam, to bring back the tactics used during Amanullah’s or the Taliban’s period, which unfortunately with the still largely illiterate population can hold sway.

In this way, increasingly it becomes a fragile and vulnerable task to continue to build empowerment, credibility and legitimacy. It requires wisdom to neutralize all this game playing with the modernization of Afghanistan. It needs utmost attention to hold on to all that we have gained and all the checkmates we have given to the enemy. Among all of this, we must keep our foreign friends - - admittedly not an easy task!

This was a jest of the albeit halting but nonetheless documented steps of the women’s movement in the last hundred and some years in Afghanistan - - of course from the standpoint of this 67- year old woman who has already experienced them three times in three generations of her own family. It is clear that the pace of social change, especially government-sponsored modernization picked up with the independence of Afghanistan in 1919 from Britain. Before then, some might say, the previous three Amirs were more rulers of a feudal society and not of a nation; their mission was not modernization but to rule within the confines of the wants and needs of Britain.

I hope that the write up provides a perspective on certain points and next steps. At the very least I hope that it provides enough

22 so that nobody ever again can claim that this is the first time that modernization and the women’s movement start in Afghanistan, or that it is still early for modernization and the women’s movement, or the conditions are not right for them, or that our religion or culture or traditions are against modernization and the women’s movement, or our people do not want modernization and the women’s movement, and other excuses, accusations and propaganda!(37)

How many weaknesses existed in this process, and how much it related to the principles of social change, and how much the women’s movement is an undeniable element of modernization, and finally how we can augment Afghanistan’s capacity for multi- faceted success by means of the women’s movement within the larger agenda of modernization, are all valid questions, that I hope true social scientists will research and document.

Today, all signs point to the fact that once again there is a game afoot over Afghanistan and it is advancing on military (insurgency), political, social and religious fronts with such force that it has turned Afghanistan into the make-believe ‘Problem of Afghanistan’ so much so that it has frozen and confused many in the Afghan leadership, and made some of the world leaders numb - - not to mention that those women’s rights activists and feminists of the world who were with us a decade ago have long since left the field! How can we respond correctly and winningly to this game, and how can we escape from this circular logic?(38) In my opinion, at the very least, we must insist that Afghanistan and its people have worth on the world stage. And if our people listen to the propaganda’s lies, so will they to our truthful counsel: we must do good things for ourselves whether the enemy likes it or not! Once again, we must prove to the world that in the twenty first century of Christianity and the dawn of the fifteenth

23 century of Islam, it is ethics that make politics successful and must be the foundation of all politics and power! With God’s help, and a pinch of courage and reason, victory is ours!

Foote Notes

(1) This article is based on a talk to a few Afghan teacher trainers in Pictou, Nova Scotia in October 2012 at the invitation of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4W). It was intended for Afghan audiences and is a translation from the original Farsi/Dari. - Now that I am preparing it for publication I am far from my library. So, references are not complete. Forgive me. - During the talk, the teacher trainers had very interesting and telling comments. I have put them as part of the footnotes! - During the writing, I felt the utterly debilitating and backwardness-producing lack of a terminology of social sciences in the accepted Farsi/Dari. The Farsi/Dari reader will run into the same problem here. I repeat again as I have done elsewhere: Afghan sociologists, please create this terminology! - I am also not sure if the expression the women’s movement is a good translation of nahzat-e zan. Maybe the women’s emancipation? Suggestions are welcome. - Also, if you use any or part of this writing or its ideas, please give reference to this article. (2) In my love for Afghanistan, I have always been fascinated by social change but I do not claim to be an authority. Only that over the years I have observed Afghanistan from this standpoint. I am hoping that others more knowledgeable than me would study in more depth the processes and phenomenon of social change, let us know how it really works in Afghanistan and how Afghans can use it to advantage.

24 (3) At the end of footnotes, there is an attempt to translate and/or explain the Farsi/Dari words and Afghan expressions and events that are mentioned or alluded to in the text. (4) Molnar, Thomas, ‘Tradition and Social Change’, 1971. A well- known political scientist, Molnar’s important article about tradition which although is somewhat Christian-centric, for us Afghans who as Muslims recognize the Prophet Jesus and also believe in the one God, is not without interest. (5) Gladwell, Malcolm, The Tipping Point, 2000. This book about organizing and executing social change (or manipulating social change for specific purposes) has created a stir in the US. It has perhaps shaken some of the tenets of social change. Any study of social change should take some of Gladwell’s points into account, which has not been done in this preliminary article. (6) Colonialism, in one way, is a way of organizing and master- minding social change but for the benefit of another group and not so much for the home turf. In this way, both extremes of right and left in Afghanistan, which have similarities with each other, have been nothing more than social engineering for others’ purposes. (7) For example, a specific method of effecting social change is described in: Wollman, Neil, Margaret Lobenstine, et al, ’Principles for Promoting Social Change in Society,’ Journal of the Psychological Study of Social Issues, May 2000. (8) The Koran, Sura Nur (24) Verses 58 and 59. (9) Various books have been written about this. Almost every era has attempted a revisionist history of its predecessor. The current era is no exception! (10) There is one half of a large flagstone in the Kabul Museum that depicts the lower half of a human body, supposedly that of the Great King Kaneshka who ruled about 1900 years ago from Bagram (the other half of the stone showing the torso and the head has not been found yet). The carving shows the tunban-e

25 geebee with all its details, exactly as it is worn today by Afghan men! Of course, for women, there are many carvings and paintings since six seven thousand years in the region of the Middle East all the way to the Far East, that show women - - and men also, with a large scarf or head cover. (11) Amin Tarzi has a detailed academic article about this era, in English. (12) Nasseer Mehreen has a book on this topic, in Farsi/Dari. (13) History of Islamic Art, page 172 (… author?), in English. (14) Senzil Nawid has a book on this era, in English. (15) Roqia Habib’s conversation with her daughter, Nasrine, 1999: The next day was Habibullah Kalakani’s uprising that toppled Amanullah. (16) May Schinasi has a detailed book entitled Afghan Women and Educational Activities, in French, that was translated to Farsi/Dari by Roqia Habib. (17) One of the teacher trainers: My father was a student during the Amani period. In school, in the morning he went to one class and after lunch he went to another class. That way in one year they finished two grades. (18) One of the teacher trainers: It hurts me that King Amanullah worked hard but the people should be tried that why they did not want him to implement his reforms. Our people always say bad things about others but never say that they themselves also make mistakes! (19) Later, this woman became the wife of a well-known person and her sons from the marriage became important public servants. There is not much information about this era; needs research. For example, what kind of a life his wife, Bibi Sarwari Sangari led, or his daughter who passed away in recent years? (20) Teacher trainers: We know nothing about this part of our history!

26 (21) Nasrine Gross’s Qassarikh-e Malaly or Memories of the First Girls’ High School in Afghanistan, 1998, in Farsi/Dari, has raw material and primary information on this era. Especially writings by Dr. Ravan Farhadi, Said Bibi Waezi Naqi, Roqia Habib and Abdullah Bereshna are cogent. (22) Mr. Sultani, station’s deputy director, and Mr. Wallah, the Farsi advisor were among those that clapped. (23) Two points are of note here: Putting on makeup is part and parcel of a married Afghan woman’s persona; she is almost expected to wear it. Two, mention of undergarments is very important: one because in the traditional pirantunban setup most men do not wear an underwear, and most women, especially outside the cities, do not wear either an underwear or a bra. Also, many people for whom modern clothes are new think that the same is true with shorter skirt; unless the long baggy pants show from underneath the skirt, they think the woman is not wearing anything, or as they call such women ‘they are naked bottom,’ which is a profanity and an insult and so pitifully shows the ignorance of such people! (24) One of the teacher trainers who is more than fifty-five years old: When my father who worked in education sector was transferred to the Northern provinces and I started attending sixth grade there, I never saw a chadari there. (25) One of the teacher trainers: We only know that first Prince Daud brought out his own wife in public without a chadari. (26) Fortunately the Official Gazette is still functioning. Even the Taliban fetwas can be found in those years’ issues. (27) One of the teacher trainers: Today in Kabul much social change has happened and the city is ready but there is no one to stimulate change! (28) More social analysis for this period in an article, in English, entitled Feminism and its History in Afghanistan, talk given at the

27 2006 annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) in Boston, on the author’s website www.kabultec.org (29) Marie Khalili Nassiri has published the memoirs of her father, Khalilullah Khalili with more information on the political situation of this era. Abdul Hamid Mobarez has a book about the women’s movement that is of interest here. Soraya Baha’s book Wind Blown, has information on aspects of the Communist and Mujaheddin eras. All three in Farsi/Dari. (30) Refer to Ekram Andishmand’s book on the education situation of this period. Also, a couple of articles in my website. (31) In the margins of the large and moderate grouping of the Mujaheddin there seems to be smaller groups that unfortunately either still think so, or if they feel a rivalry with the Wahhabi and Salafi philosophies want to outdo those two, or think that Mohammad Mursi’s victory in Egypt calls for a return to a more conservative philosophy. These divisions, however small, of course, hurt this important grouping and play into the hands of the enemy. (32) This episode needs to be researched and verified to find out who were the perpetrators, the Afghans or some foreign groups, and to document the lessons learned from it. (33) Research that would investigate that aside from the Resistance of the Mujaheddin, how long Afghanistan would have lasted under these conditions will put light on various aspects of social engineering. (34) Author’s eye witness observations during a trip to the area in August to October of 2001. (35) The text of the Declaration and its Support Statement as well as reports of the three Negar conferences in Dushanbe and later in Kabul can be found in the author’s website, www.kabultec.org. This project was unique in its time. Later some of the other movements, such as the one million signatures’ drive of Iranian women and others were inspired by it, without acknowledging it.

28 (36) Much has been written about this period by both Afghan and non-Afghan analysts. Among the newer Afghan researchers, Mujib Rahman Rahimi in England and Hamza Waezi in Sweden have works on some of the issues, sometimes in English. (37) Aziz Arianfar, former Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has various research documents defining the problem, in Farsi/Dari. (38) Ahmad Wali Masoud, former Afghan Ambassador to the United Kingdom and currently General Director of the Massoud Foundation, has a book “the National Agenda” proposing a solution, in Farsi/Dari.

Farsi/Dari Words, Expressions and Afghan events, in the order that they appear in the article: - Ramazan: The Farsi/Dari word for the Muslim month of fasting, in Arabic Ramadan. - naqaara a drum like instrument with loud noise. - tanor: the clay oven that is inserted in the ground for baking the Afghan naan, bread. - Chaa-aab: a town in Takhar province, made famous by several famous Farsi/Dari writers. - chadari: the head to toe covering worn by Afghan women, made famous during the Taliban regime because they made a law that every woman must wear it - - until then wearing it was voluntary! The word burqa, the Arabic word for chadari, was used in Pakistan, and since the time of the Taliban, outside Afghanistan this word is more often used than chadari. - dollaaq: another form of covering for women composed of two pieces, one the same as chadari and the second a very baggy pants that was worn to cover the dress and the usual tunbaan, usually both pieces of the same color and material. - mardaana: masculine, pertaining to men. - zanaana: feminine, pertaining to women.

29 - In the Koran, God mentions that human beings, meaning both men and women, are the highest order of beings, ashraf-e makhlooquaat. - saraacha: the men’s quarters where male guests of the man of the house are received and entertained. Usually, the first building closest to the house’s gate. - andaroon or the interior living quarters where women lived, beeroon or the outside living quarters where men lived. This terminology was used by the Ottomans, whose official court language was Farsi. - pirantunban: the long tunic and baggy pants that men wear in Afghanistan. Women also wear it except their tunic is gathered on both the upper and lower waist so as to make room for women’s bosom and a pregnancy bump. This dress is called piran-e kamar- cheen. - bibi: lady. - Bobo: Lady, mother. - jegha: tiara. - jegha daar: having a tiara. - loya jirga: grand council where delegates from many parts gather to deliberate very important decisions. - Paghman: a mountain resort town near Kabul that was used as the summer capital during Amanullah’s time, and it is where he had the Loya Jirga. - namaaz: the prayer that Muslims are to perform five times per day. - fateha: wake. - Andaraabi: a quarter of Kabul along the Kabul river and not far from the Palace. - Bostaan Saraay: The flowered garden was the name of the Palace of Abdul-Rahman Khan. - Arg: Palace.

30 - tunban-e geebee: the baggy pantaloons that both Afghan men and women wear. - khatm: Reading the entire Koran. This is a religious ritual to pray for the soul of people and one’s own salvation. - Habibulah Kalakani’s uprising that toppled Amanullah’s reign. - ruy-lochee: Litterally in Farsi it means baring face or taking the chadari off. Name given to the Daud period women’s movement. - Shah Khanom: Wife of the king, reverential nickname for Queen Homaira. - In Islam there are two worlds, daar al-harb or the house of war and daar al-Islam or the house of peace. During the Jehad against the Soviet Union’s occupation and against communism, the Mujaheddin were at war or in daar al-harb. When that finished, they entered the house of peace or daar al-Islam. - nahzat-e zan: the renaissance of women, the emancipation of women, the women’s movement. - Habibia and Isteqlaal: the first two boy’s high schools. The first taught English as a foreign language, the second French. Both produced very famous and important Afghans. - Malalay: the first girls’ high school and it taught French. - fetwa: religious decree. - manto: the French manteau for overcoat. This word is used for what Iranian women currently wear as an outer cover on their body and it is nearly to the ankles.