SAM Vignettes by Mayank Chhaya on the tragedy of Afghan women

Transcript

00:00I'm reminded of this telling verse by the poet Sawer Zafar which the great Ghulam Ali

00:28has sung into a wonderful Ghazal as well, while reading about yet another decree by

00:33the Taliban against Afghan women. The Taliban has now banned windows in buildings that open

00:44on views where Afghan women may be engaged in their daily chores such as cleaning, cooking

00:50and fetching water from wells. The reason? Well, what the hell does it matter what the

00:58reason may be? That a decree like that has been issued at all is yet another example

01:05of the intensifying corroding of women's rights in Afghanistan. The Taliban has already imposed

01:14draconian bans that include that women's heads and faces be fully covered and not seen in public,

01:22that they may not visit parks, that they may not get critical health care and even their voices

01:29not be heard by men other than their husbands or brothers or family members in public. If all these

01:39bans were not so cruel, they would be funny as part of a damning satirical novel about a fictional

01:47land where rampant misogyny and misanthropy rule. Of course, Sawer Zafar's brilliant verse is a

01:59wistful rumination that says all windows are open in every home but no one is looking out.

02:09In the case of Afghanistan and the Taliban, the problem is the opposite. They do not want

02:17windows overlooking areas where women are trapped in their domestic drudgery because,

02:23and I cannot make this up, according to government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid,

02:29and I'm quoting him now, seeing women working in kitchens, in courtyards or collecting water

02:36from wells can lead to obscene acts. Just think about that. As part of the new building code,

02:46new buildings have to be designed bearing in mind that they do not have windows where

02:52men may end up looking at fully covered, utterly silent women going about their oppressive

03:00domesticity and get aroused. For the existing building, it seems such windows have to be

03:08either obstructed or boarded up. Since that cakewalk return in August 2021, in the face

03:19of frenziedly retreating American forces, the Taliban have systematically dismantled women's

03:27rights, an action which has now reached a stage where there were windows are haram.

03:34Let me offer an admittedly tragic rejoinder to Sawer Zafar with my own verse. I say this

03:46with unrelenting admiration that my verse invokes the great Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla's classic

03:55title, Diwaar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi. Here is my verse. Jahan Kabhi Diwaaron Mein Khidkiyaan

04:05Basti Thi, Jahan Kabhi Diwaaron Mein Khidkiyaan Basti Thi, Wahaan Aaj Ek Zaharila Sanata Hai.