Feminist Perspective: September 11th and Afghan Women
Lemar-Aftaab, Dr. Huma Ahmed Ghosh, Posted: Jan 02, 2002
Brief History of Afghan Women
For women in Afghanistan, reforms were not just visible but implemented around the 1880s, when Amir Abdur Rahman Khan ascended the throne. He tried to change some of the customary laws that were detrimental to women's autonomy. Women were, after marriage, viewed as the husband's family's property to the extent that if her husband died she was forced to marry his brother or next of kin. Amir Abdur Rahman "Iron-Amir" abolished this custom, raised the age of marriage, and gave women rights to divorce under specific circumstances.
Upon his death in 1901, Amir Habibullah Khan began his reign, which lasted until 1919. Amir Habibullah continued this progressive agenda by putting a ceiling on the extravagant expenses during marriages, which rendered many households into poverty. He abandoned the veil for his wives who were publicly seen in western clothes. Nevertheless, tribal leaders and mullahs saw the opening of a school with an English curriculum that admitted women as going against the grain of tradition.
Upon Amir Habibullah's assassination in 1919, his son King Amanullah and Queen Soraya ascended the throne marking the full-fledged modernization period of Afghanistan. The Amani government led by King Amanullah declared that women may chose not to be seen in public wearing the veil; women were encouraged to go to school and receive an education. King Amanullah went as far as sending some women to Europe for an education. In fact, in 1928 the King and Queen received honorary degrees from Oxford University.
"He planned to open six schools for women, the first being Essmat Lycee which opened in 1921. Later renamed to Malalai Lycee, Essmat operated under the guidance of Queen Soraya. Queen Soraya believed that the education of women would improve their social status and permit them to play a more meaningful role within society. To promote this cause, Queen Soraya and her mother founded the first women's weekly magazine Irshad-i-Niswan (The Guide for Women). Other achievements included the formation of the Anjuman-i-Himayat-Niswan (Women's Protective Association) was headed by Shah Amanullah's sister Kobra" (Sadat, 2001)
This was an era when other Muslim nations, like Turkey and Egypt were also on the path to modernization. Hence, in Afghanistan the elite was impressed by such changes and emulated their development models.
However, the 1920s were also the time that conflicts between the elite modernists and traditionalist tribes began to surface. The main bone(s) of contention was the changing status of women.
What broke the proverbial camel's back for the traditionalists was the institution in 1924 of the freedom of women to choose their own partners and attempts to abolish bride price. Fathers of young women saw such progressive laws as a loss of social status, loss of familial control and a further loss of financial security.
"Gregorian (1969) asserts that 'Amanullah, determined to improve this situation [the status of women] and maintaining that his support of the feminist cause was based on the true tenets of Islam, took more steps in this direction in his short rule than were taken by all his predecessors together.' (P. 243). He sent them to Muslim countries such as Turkey to study in the field of medicine. Shah Amanullah reasoned that this would save women in Afghanistan the embarrassment of being examined by male doctors" (Sadat, 2001).
However, by 1928, the traditionalists grew restless and powerful and protested the freedoms women were experiencing in Kabul. It should be pointed out here that women in tribal and rural areas outside of Kabul had still not availed of the opportunities but those in the urban centers who had, were now targeted by the traditionalists.
Yet, the traditionalists were being challenged by many as outlined in Queen Soraya's address to a gathering of women in the 7th Independence Anniversary in 1926:
"Do not think, however, that our nation needs only men to serve it. Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of Islam. The valuable services rendered by women are recounted throughout history from which we learn that women were not created solely for pleasure and comfort. From their examples we learn that we must all contribute toward the development of our nation and that this can not be done without being equipped with knowledge" (Dupree, 1986, P. 46).
Nevertheless, the Loya Jirga, a group of tribal leaders, finally, put their foot down, when marriage age of girls was raised to 18 years and for men to 21 years and polygamy was abolished. They also opposed the education of girls and by the late 1920s forced the King to reverse some of his policies and conform to a more traditional agenda of social change. Schools for girls were closed down, women had to revert to wearing the veil. As Moghadam (1997) points out, women could not cut their hair, mullahs were given unlimited powers to institute their agendas and the old tribal system was to be reinstated. Nevertheless, pressures on the King mounted and in 1929, the king abdicated the throne. The next two decades saw the Afghan royalty exchange hands with different families and leaders, but not again a leader who would push the reform and women's agenda to the detriment of their rule.
At this point, Afghanistan was also developing a very close trade relationship with the Soviet Union. Because of its strategic location in the Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and lack of interest in their development by the United States, Afghanistan became a close ally of the Soviet Union. This is an important issue in the history of Afghanistan because one could conclude, that despite all the economic assistance that the Soviets gave the region it also sowed the seed for further conflicts that have resulted in the present situation in Afghanistan.
This is not to imply that the Soviets single-handedly are responsible but to implicate the role of the United States (with Pakistan's cooperation) too in playing out their Cold War games on the Afghan playing (killing) fields.
A few decades later in the late 1950's, a need was perceived for women to be economically active to help Afghanistan achieve its targeted development goals. Women's issues were once again given some consideration. “In 1959 members of the royal family and the government appeared at a public ceremony accompanied by their unveiled wives and daughters” (UNESCO Courier, 1975, P.26). In 1959, women were encouraged to abandon the veil, marriage expenses were curtailed, and women were encouraged to participate in the economy. The world was modernizing, industrializing and with Soviet help, Afghanistan could achieve those goals too.
This Soviet economic aid and bilateral trade relations gradually converted into a political and social dependency. The 1960s saw the beginning of a socialist reform agenda in Afghanistan. Over the next 15 years, the Soviet Union had trained around 90% of the Afghan army. Afghan students were going to the Soviet Union for higher education, and on the home front a 'left-wing modernizing elite' was forming.
In 1964 the Constitution allowed women to enter elected politics and gave them the right to vote. The first woman Minister was in the health department, elected to the parliament along with three other women.
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