RAWA,anti-war statement and stuff in Afghanistan
RAWA-ista | 22.10.2001 14:01
RAWA statement on the US strikes on Afghanistan
_______________________________________________
Taliban should be overthrown by the uprising of Afghan nation
Again, due to the treason of fundamentalist hangmen, our people have been
caught in the claws of the monster of a vast war and destruction.
America, by forming an international coalition against Osama and his
Taliban-collaborators and in retaliation for the 11th September terrorist
attacks, has launched a vast aggression on our country.
Despite the claim of the US that only military and terrorist bases of the
Taliban and Al Qieda will be struck and that its actions would be
accurately targeted and proportionate, we have witnessed for the past
seven days leaves no doubt that this invasion will shed the blood of
numerous women, men, children, young and old of our country.
If until yesterday the US and its allies, without paying the least
attention to the fate of democracy in Afghanistan, were supporting
the policy of Jehadis-fostering, Osama-fostering and Taliban-fostering,
today they are sharpening the dagger of the "Northern Alliance". And
because of this policy they have plunged our people into a horrific
concern and anxiety in fear of re-experiencing the dreadful happenings of
the years of the Jehadis' "emirate".
Afghans, while keeping in mind the tremendous disasters they faced at the
hands of Jehadi and Taliban vultures, just hang onto their hope for the
return of the ex-king. However, if he comes to the scene while relying on
the "Northern Alliance" and so-called "moderate" Taliban, he not only will
lose his reputation among the people but it will endanger the stability
and success of whatever set-up he forms.
In the time of the Taliban's medievalist domination, no Afghan and no
honorable and mindful Muslim will be deceived by the "nationalistic"
gestures of Taliban who invite the Afghan people and even the whole Muslim
world for "Jehad" against America. Anyperson, group or government that
supports the Taliban, no matter under what pretext, is the enemy of the
Afghan people, the people who also hate the "anti-Osama" and "anti-
terrorism" acts of the "Northern Alliance" murderers. Our people not only
have not forgotten the five years after the collapse of the puppet regime
of Najib -- the most horrible years of terrorism and unchastity -- but as
well they don't forget the time when the Jehadis themselves were the cheap
servants of Abdullah Ezam and Osama bin Laden.
Now the "Northern Alliance" groups lie in ambush like hungry wolves so
they, while riding the guns of the US, can assault and swarm into Kabul
and in proportion to the depth and width of their "conquests", besides
committing vandalism like the years before, gain ground in order to
bargain for position in the second "emirate", and as a consequence again
spoil the aspiration of the people for the establishment of a stable and
democratic government acceptable to all.
The continuation of US attacks and the increase in the number of innocent
civilian victims not only gives an excuse to the Taliban, but also will
cause the empowering of the fundamentalist forces in the region and even
in the world.Our people have two options:
Either the eradication of the plague of Taliban and Al Qieda - though they
(our people) didn't have any part in its cultivation and germination - and
the establishment of a government based on democratic values, or to hand
over Afghanistan to these forces who have dependence, looting, crime and
national treason as the main components of their perfidious entity.
Our compatriots, therefore, must rise up for a thorough demolition of
Taliban and their Osamas so the world should understand that the tired,
wounded, mournful and deserted Afghans not only in word, but practically
too, have no connection with the criminals and don't regard a handful of
Arab or non-Arab terrorists as "honorable guests".
Only an overall uprising can prevent the repetition and recurrence of the
catastrophe that has befallen our country before and with or even without
the presence of the UN peace-keeping force this uprising can pave the way
for the establishment of an interim government and preparation for
elections. We believe that once there is no foreign interference,
especially of a fundamentalist type, all ethnic groups of all religions,
with no regard to the devilish designs of the fundamentalists, will,
prove their solidarity for achieving the most sacred national interests
for the sake of a proud and free Afghanistan.
The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) asks that
all anti-fundamentalist, freedom and democracy-loving and pro-women's
rights forces and also the ex-king of Afghanistan, before it is too late,
must play their role in the organizing of mass-uprising and as well thwart
the plans of the internal and external enemies of Afghanistan.
The peace and justice-loving people of the world will be on the side of
the Afghan people.Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
This statement has already been widely distributed inside Afghanistan
in Pushtu and Persian languages.www.rawa.org
>
http://afghanwomensmission.org/index.shtml
> Afghan Womens' Mission works to support Afghan refugees, particularly by
> funding projects which address the desparate health care, education, and
> empowerment needs of the Afghan refugees, primarily women and children.
> This website has a variety of information, resources, and links. Read
> their statement opposing military action by the U.S.>> http://www.rawa.org
> The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan is a
> political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace,
> freedom, democracy, and womens' rights in fundamentalism-blighted
> Afghanistan.>> http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/09/afghanrefugees092101.htm
> Human Rights Watch release highlights the conditions of Afghan refugees
> in the aftermath of September 11. (does not take into consideration the
> effects of US military strikes against Afghanistan) Also links to other
> human rights issues in Afghanistan.>> http://www.unhcr.ch
> The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has updates on the
> creation of refugees in Afghanistan due to US attacks.>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,565301,00.html> and
> http://www.nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=12475&group=webcast
> UK Guardian article discussing the low success rate of US air drops of
> humanitarian aid to Afghani refugees, as well as UK Guardian commentary
> on the growing crisis for Afghani refugees with the escalation of
> military action and the approach of winter.
_______________________________________________
Taliban should be overthrown by the uprising of Afghan nation
Again, due to the treason of fundamentalist hangmen, our people have been
caught in the claws of the monster of a vast war and destruction.
America, by forming an international coalition against Osama and his
Taliban-collaborators and in retaliation for the 11th September terrorist
attacks, has launched a vast aggression on our country.
Despite the claim of the US that only military and terrorist bases of the
Taliban and Al Qieda will be struck and that its actions would be
accurately targeted and proportionate, we have witnessed for the past
seven days leaves no doubt that this invasion will shed the blood of
numerous women, men, children, young and old of our country.
If until yesterday the US and its allies, without paying the least
attention to the fate of democracy in Afghanistan, were supporting
the policy of Jehadis-fostering, Osama-fostering and Taliban-fostering,
today they are sharpening the dagger of the "Northern Alliance". And
because of this policy they have plunged our people into a horrific
concern and anxiety in fear of re-experiencing the dreadful happenings of
the years of the Jehadis' "emirate".
Afghans, while keeping in mind the tremendous disasters they faced at the
hands of Jehadi and Taliban vultures, just hang onto their hope for the
return of the ex-king. However, if he comes to the scene while relying on
the "Northern Alliance" and so-called "moderate" Taliban, he not only will
lose his reputation among the people but it will endanger the stability
and success of whatever set-up he forms.
In the time of the Taliban's medievalist domination, no Afghan and no
honorable and mindful Muslim will be deceived by the "nationalistic"
gestures of Taliban who invite the Afghan people and even the whole Muslim
world for "Jehad" against America. Anyperson, group or government that
supports the Taliban, no matter under what pretext, is the enemy of the
Afghan people, the people who also hate the "anti-Osama" and "anti-
terrorism" acts of the "Northern Alliance" murderers. Our people not only
have not forgotten the five years after the collapse of the puppet regime
of Najib -- the most horrible years of terrorism and unchastity -- but as
well they don't forget the time when the Jehadis themselves were the cheap
servants of Abdullah Ezam and Osama bin Laden.
Now the "Northern Alliance" groups lie in ambush like hungry wolves so
they, while riding the guns of the US, can assault and swarm into Kabul
and in proportion to the depth and width of their "conquests", besides
committing vandalism like the years before, gain ground in order to
bargain for position in the second "emirate", and as a consequence again
spoil the aspiration of the people for the establishment of a stable and
democratic government acceptable to all.
The continuation of US attacks and the increase in the number of innocent
civilian victims not only gives an excuse to the Taliban, but also will
cause the empowering of the fundamentalist forces in the region and even
in the world.Our people have two options:
Either the eradication of the plague of Taliban and Al Qieda - though they
(our people) didn't have any part in its cultivation and germination - and
the establishment of a government based on democratic values, or to hand
over Afghanistan to these forces who have dependence, looting, crime and
national treason as the main components of their perfidious entity.
Our compatriots, therefore, must rise up for a thorough demolition of
Taliban and their Osamas so the world should understand that the tired,
wounded, mournful and deserted Afghans not only in word, but practically
too, have no connection with the criminals and don't regard a handful of
Arab or non-Arab terrorists as "honorable guests".
Only an overall uprising can prevent the repetition and recurrence of the
catastrophe that has befallen our country before and with or even without
the presence of the UN peace-keeping force this uprising can pave the way
for the establishment of an interim government and preparation for
elections. We believe that once there is no foreign interference,
especially of a fundamentalist type, all ethnic groups of all religions,
with no regard to the devilish designs of the fundamentalists, will,
prove their solidarity for achieving the most sacred national interests
for the sake of a proud and free Afghanistan.
The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) asks that
all anti-fundamentalist, freedom and democracy-loving and pro-women's
rights forces and also the ex-king of Afghanistan, before it is too late,
must play their role in the organizing of mass-uprising and as well thwart
the plans of the internal and external enemies of Afghanistan.
The peace and justice-loving people of the world will be on the side of
the Afghan people.Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
This statement has already been widely distributed inside Afghanistan
in Pushtu and Persian languages.www.rawa.org
>
http://afghanwomensmission.org/index.shtml > Afghan Womens' Mission works to support Afghan refugees, particularly by
> funding projects which address the desparate health care, education, and
> empowerment needs of the Afghan refugees, primarily women and children.
> This website has a variety of information, resources, and links. Read
> their statement opposing military action by the U.S.>>
http://www.rawa.org > The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan is a
> political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace,
> freedom, democracy, and womens' rights in fundamentalism-blighted
> Afghanistan.>>
http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/09/afghanrefugees092101.htm > Human Rights Watch release highlights the conditions of Afghan refugees
> in the aftermath of September 11. (does not take into consideration the
> effects of US military strikes against Afghanistan) Also links to other
> human rights issues in Afghanistan.>>
http://www.unhcr.ch > The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has updates on the
> creation of refugees in Afghanistan due to US attacks.>
>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,565301,00.html> and >
http://www.nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=12475&group=webcast > UK Guardian article discussing the low success rate of US air drops of
> humanitarian aid to Afghani refugees, as well as UK Guardian commentary
> on the growing crisis for Afghani refugees with the escalation of
> military action and the approach of winter.
RAWA-ista
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A Vision for Afghanistan-RAWA refugee camp
22.10.2001 14:07
Los Angeles Times: Training Camp of Another Kind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Pakistan, defiant young Afghan women bent on reversing years of brutal
oppression study and plan. To them, the conflict has no good guys.
By RONE TEMPESTTIMES STAFF WRITEROctober 15 2001
KHAIWA REFUGEE CAMP, Pakistan --
The sprawling refugee camps on the Pakistani-Afghan border have long been
breeding grounds for male militants in Afghanistan--first for the
moujahedeen fighters who battled the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and,
more recently, for the fundamentalist Taliban.
But here in the dusty, abused terrain of Pakistan's northwestern frontier,
the Khaiwa refugee camp is a uniquely feminist outpost.
Women in the Khaiwa camp shun the head-to-toe raiment known as a burka.
Girls study science and Koranic scripture in a mud-walled school and dream
of attending university. The camp's male physician, Dr. Qaeeum, vows that
his infant daughter will be educated "from cradle to grave, until PhD."
Khaiwa is a training ground for a different kind of fighter: intense young
women bent on reversing the trend of female oppression that has helped
hurtle Afghanistan into a new dark age.
For the female activists based here, there are no good guys among the
factions battling for supremacy in their homeland -- not in the notorious
Taliban and not in the opposition Northern Alliance. They worry that in
the international rush to bring down the Taliban, the United States and
its allies will form partnerships with the Northern Alliance or with other
groups that also have a history of brutally oppressing women.
"The devil is the brother of evil. The dog is the brother of the wolf,"
Khaiwa camp school Principal Abeda Mansoor said in her native Dari language.
"We condemn both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance."
Mansoor, a former geography teacher in Afghanistan, is a 16-year member of
the Revolutionary Assn. of the Women of Afghanistan, or RAWA, a small but
influential rights group that sends women on dangerous missions into
Afghanistan to set up clandestine schools for girls and to use hidden
cameras to document abuse of women. Under the Taliban's harsh version of
Islam, girls cannot attend school and women are prohibited from working
outside the home.
Displayed on the association's Web site at
taken photos and videos of public executions and floggings have played a
major role in building international opposition to the Taliban. The recent
critically acclaimed documentary.
"Beneath the Veil," by London-based filmmaker Saira Shah, was made with
the help of RAWA workers who escorted Shah in Afghanistan.
In Pakistan, the group operates hospitals, schools and orphanages in the
camps where 2 million Afghan refugees live. But even here, their
activities remain mostly secret. Taliban-style fundamentalism thrives in
many of the camps. A recent RAWA human rights procession in Islamabad, the
Pakistani capital, was attacked by stick-wielding fundamentalist students.
But the Khaiwa camp, in the middle of a rutted quarry surrounded by smoking
brick kilns, is an island of tolerance. It is small and exceptional, home
to only 500 families. But it is a microcosm of what Afghanistan might
resemble if it was freed of religious extremism and civil war.
Safora Wali, 30, manages the camp's small orphanage, home to 20 Afghan girls
ages 6 to 19. A former student at Kabul University in the Afghan capital,
Wali also teaches older women in the camp how to read.
"My oldest student is 45 years old," Wali said. "She's so happy now to be
able to read letters from her relatives. She told me, 'I now know the
pleasure of my eyes.' "
The Khaiwa camp was founded in the early 1980s by one of the more
enlightened moujahedeen commanders, who believed in universal education.
He allowed RAWA workers into the camp to teach and counsel the families.
The camp eventually became known as an open-minded haven for the RAWA
activists, who run the 450-student school and the orphanage.
Wali came to the camp last year from western Afghanistan after Taliban
authorities found her distributing RAWA literature and she was forced toflee.
In Afghanistan, Khaiwa is known as a place to send girls who are threatened
by either the religious restrictions of the Taliban or the sexual
aggression of Afghan warlords.
Danish, 15, said she was sent here after her father was killed by agents of
the former Communist government in Kabul. She said her mother still lives
in Afghanistan but could no longer protect her. Like the other girls in
the four-room adobe orphanage, she wants to finish high school and reenter
Afghanistan as a RAWA operative--teaching in underground home schools.
When asked by a reporter how many of them planned to go to work for RAWA,
all but the youngest of the 20 girls raised their hands.
Women in Afghanistan have suffered a long history of repression punctuated
by brief periods of progressive leadership. Inspired by the reforms of
Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, self-styled King Amanullah
lifted the veil of subjugation for a short period in the late 1920s. But
women in Afghan cities probably enjoyed their greatest freedom during the
Soviet-backed Communist regime that ruled in Kabul from 1979 to 1992.
RAWA was founded in the capital in 1977. But its founder, known by the
single name Meena, opposed the Soviet occupation and joined resistance
forces to fight against it. Considered an enemy by both the Communist
regime and the fundamentalist moujahedeen, Meena was assassinated in a
Quetta, Pakistan, refugee camp in 1987.
Sahar Saba, 28, who like many of the RAWA activists uses a pseudonym for
protection, grew up in one of the Quetta camps and was educated in a RAWA
school. Now she works as a spokeswoman for the group in Islamabad and
travels abroad seeking foreign support.
Saba came to Pakistan when she was 7 after the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States,
she has spent much of her time working to make sure that the U.S. and its
allies do not forget the cause of women's rights as they continue their
campaign against the Taliban.
Besides providing a well-documented history of the Taliban's suppression
of women, RAWA has recorded hundreds of cases of abuse by the Northern
Alliance and non-Taliban warlords.
Saba and the other RAWA activists favor the return of Mohammad Zaher Shah,
the former Afghan monarch who was deposed in 1973. Through the agency of
the ex-king, she says, Afghanistan could have a new leadership tainted
neither by the abuses of the warlords nor by the restrictions imposed on
women by the Taliban.
When the Taliban swept into power in 1996, it capitalized on its claim to
be a "protector of women." Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar gained fame
by rescuing two girls who had been kidnapped by a warlord. According to
Taliban lore, Omar killed the man and hanged his body from the barrel of atank.
"The parties that were in power before the Taliban were in some ways
worse," Saba acknowledged. "Many girls were raped. Many others committedsuicide.
"When the Taliban came to power, women were safer," she added. "But they
set the wheel of history back hundreds of years."
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