Peace with Taliban:Afghan Women's Rights at stake?

(Article First Published for Technorati( http://technorati.com/women/article/peace-with-taliban-are-afghan-womens1/))  Afghanisthan has become so much related to US (US DREAM?) that I thought of publishing this here...

While NATO and the present Afghan Government talks about political deal with the Talibans, Afghan women wait with apprehension and doubt about their future.

NATO chief, however, has reassured that they will support a political deal with the Taliban only if they agree to respect the constitutional rights of women.

But can these mere words from foreigners soothe the wounds of Afghan women who have been denied the basic minimum rights as human beings by the Taliban, only a few years ago? Can this government, which will be formed by reconciliation with the Afghan women’s worst enemy, The Taliban, be ever respectful of women’s rights?

Reconciliation will perhaps expedite peace. Peace is something that the Afghan women are also eagerly waiting for. But the question that looms large is whether this peace is to be bought at the cost of freedom of the Afghan women. They fear and not without reason that the men, Afghan or foreign, who are going to decide their fate may find this (their freedom) a small cost to pay for the greater cause of PEACE.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former prime minister of Denmark, however, emphasizes,” "My position, and the position of all the allies, is very clear: we will never support any political deal that sacrifices the rights that Afghan women now have enshrined in the constitution,".

Afghan women have actually made a lot of progress after 2001.They went back to schools, there were again female doctors in Hospitals, women were elected to Parliament, they were recruited even in the police and they could pursue their career without being forced to wear a burkha.

But now, a leading female member of the Afghan parliament, Fawzia Koofi says, those hard-won gains are retreating.

“Unfortunately, there are certain elements within the government, outside the government, nowadays mainly within the government, who don't believe in women's progress, because they think, if women becomes stronger, they will lose the power," Koofi said.

The need of the moment is a strong government that actually is committed to the implementation of equal rights and opportunities that have been written down in the constitution. And if fundamentalists are given a chance to penetrate into this government, there is every chance that they will use their power to implement what they believe to be right.

We, the common people from all over the world, with all our good intentions, can do only one thing at this moment: trust the wisdom and intentions of the NATO and pray for the Afghan women