The Fear Beneath the Burka
by Rina Amiri, New York Times op-ed
March 20, 2024

KABUL, Afghanistan -- As an Afghan woman returning to post-Taliban Afghanistan after two decades, I spent my first days there, in February, trying to blend in with my countrywomen. Realizing that this still means donning the now famous cornflower-blue burka, I asked my wizened and toothless driver to take me to the marketplace to buy one. He shook his head and reproached me: "Unless it is a religious choice, wear a veil instead of a burka. We need a few women to cast these things off to help us move beyond the dark period of the Taliban."

The burka is laden with symbolism in Afghanistan, as well as in the West. It is a reflection of deeply religious and conservative values, but it also stands for something disturbing: the fear and insecurity that still grips the country. The majority of women are afraid to take off their burkas because they do not have confidence in the fragile peace and security in Afghanistan. They speak in hushed voices about the Taliban in their midst and worry that they will once again be victims of violence and humiliation.

The plight of Afghan women continues to capture the attention of the international community. But their reality is also intricately connected to the situation throughout the country. Just as the repression of Afghan women represented the political extremism of the Taliban, the shrouded figures of Afghan women today signify that real peace is elusive.

The failure of the international community to make this connection is clear: a chorus of voices rose in support of Afghan women on International Women's Day, but there have been only muted responses to the repeated appeals of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's current leader, and Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, to extend the tenure of the international security force now keeping an uneasy peace in Kabul.

Many Afghans see the presence of this force - 4,000 troops from 15 different countries - as critical to deterring Taliban sympathizers from fomenting unrest and destabilizing Kabul. And the rest of Afghanistan remains highly unstable. The recent fighting between government troops and Qaeda and Taliban forces in Gardez was just 100 miles from Kabul. Warlords and bandits are active in many areas.

Even the fragile security that exists in Kabul may be short-lived. Britain has indicated that it will give up its lead role in the international force by the end of April, and no other country has agreed to take its place. The Security Council would have to agree to any extension of the force's presence, as well as to any broadening of the territory where it can operate.

Afghan women are keenly aware of the connection between stability in the country and their own future. When I asked at a meeting of women in Kabul about their priorities, one woman responded: "How am I supposed to think about going back to work or sending my daughter to school if I am still afraid to go outside? Put a peacekeeper at my side and make sure that there is enough security for the loya jirga to take place; then I will think about the future."

The women have bitter memories of the period after the 1989 Geneva peace accords that were supposed to end conflict in Afghanistan after Soviet forces were withdrawn. The United Nations and the international community planned to bring back the former king, convene a loya jirga (a congress of leaders from Afghanistan's factions), and set up an interim government with mujahedeen factions and Mohammad Najibullah, the leader of the Soviet-backed regime, participating. Negotiations between the various groups collapsed, and the international community retreated. The resulting civil war brought the loss of thousands of lives, the destruction of Kabul, brutal acts of mass violence and rape against women, and the emergence of the Taliban.

The continued fighting in Afghanistan may make the international community skittish about contributing to peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan. But both Afghanistan and the West have much at stake. Without the weight of the international community behind the peace process, the fragile government could collapse, plunging Afghanistan into a new round of conflict and civil war and recreating the kind of lawless situation that led to its becoming a haven for terrorists. Those who have expressed support for Afghan women should be especially concerned. Establishing security must be the first step to freeing them and their country from the long cycle of oppression and war.

The text of this essay originally appeared in the March 20, 2024 edition of New York Times

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