<Life - Human Rights>
Afghan Conversation 29
[This is the latest in a series of confidential conversations I am having with a friend in Afghanistan about life under Taliban rule. I am protecting his identity for his safety.]
Dear David:
For most of us in Afghanistan, life under the Taliban entails regular violations of our human rights and efforts to control our private lives.
Men are forced to grow beards and wear turbans or hats at all times. A friend of mine said that a Talib slapped him in the face recently simply because he had closely cut his hair on the sides, a style popular here with young men.
Another friend was slapped in the face for wearing a hair bow, which is also popular here.
But the situation for women is even worse. Not only are they deprived of their right to an education, they can barely go anywhere or do anything on their own.
The Taliban have ordered shopkeepers to refuse to sell anything to women who have not covered their faces, and the shopkeepers must not allow women to enter the shop, even when they are veiled. The shopkeeper is only allowed to sell goods to women outside of the shop. Shopkeepers who violate these rules are arrested.
While all of this is happening we are enduring a severe drought. Fully 80 percent of Afghans are engaged in agriculture and livestock, where the impact of the drought is felt most deeply. But as the prices of food are rising, everybody is feeling the pain.
Is it any wonder why so many of us dream of getting out of this place? For too many of us, it has become a living hell.
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