Despite being called a prostitute and a bitch by furious madrasa students, Shinkai Karokhail, one of Afghanistan's 68 MPs with seats constitutionally reserved for women, described what happened on Wednesday morning as "a wonderful occasion".
"It was the first time in the history of Afghanistan that women were aware of their rights," she said. "It was a fantastic statement that women will demand equal rights."
The previous evening one of Afghanistan's most powerful Shia clerics, Mohamad Asif Mohseni, published an order on his personal television station that members of his sect must not allow their wives and daughters to attend the unprecedented and historic demonstration in Kabul against a law the UN says legalises marital rape.
But among the people who tuned in to the broadcast on Tamadon was a young woman called Adila. She lives in a large Shia neighbourhood on the outskirts of Kabul and was enraged by what she saw as an attempt to stop her going to the protest the following morning.
"He had no right to tell us what to do - these are our rights. I knew that this was my responsibility to go to the gathering," she said.
So, fearing her parents would stop her leaving and that Mohseni's followers would prevent her from boarding public buses, she sneaked out of the house in the early hours and walked for nearly three hours.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment