[For many women, the jirga got off to a dismaying start when Mr. Ghani appointed as chairman Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, a combative former warlord known for his harsh views on women’s rights. Things quickly went downhill when a female delegate complained directly to Mr. Sayyaf and was hustled out by security guards. Other delegates hooted and clapped to drown out her protest.]
By
Fatima Faizi and David Zucchino
 |
|
Afghan
women at the traditional national assembly, or loya jirga, in Kabul
on
Monday. Credit Omar Sobhani/Reuters
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KABUL,
Afghanistan — On the second
day of a traditional Afghan assembly this week, a delegate rose to speak on the
topic at hand, peace in Afghanistan.
A bearded man from Kandahar ordered her to
shut up.
“He told her: ‘Peace has nothing to do with
you. Sit down, you should be in the kitchen cooking!’ ” recalled Behnoh Benod,
31, a male delegate who witnessed the put-down.
The assembly, known as a loya jirga, was
convened by President Ashraf Ghani to debate Afghanistan’s path to peace.
Organizers proudly pointed out that 30 percent of the 3,200 delegates were
women.
But several female delegates said they felt
ignored, marginalized or patronized. They were told that men should lead the
jirga’s 51 committees and women should serve as secretaries. Some women
complained that they were groped and fondled — not by men, but by women who
patted them down during security checks.
Other women said they had been confronted by
male delegates who claimed to support women’s rights, but only under Shariah,
or Islamic law — a view shared by the Taliban.
“I asked them which Shariah law, the Taliban
Shariah law or ISIS Shariah law,” said a delegate, Sakina Hussaini, referring
to the Islamic State.
“Some men didn’t accept women as human beings
and I had to scream at them,” she said.
Mr. Benod said just 16 of the delegates on
his 108-member committee were women. A male delegate was selected as committee
chair. Of the 51 committees, 13 were headed by women, and 28 women were elected
as committee secretaries.
For many women, the jirga got off to a
dismaying start when Mr. Ghani appointed as chairman Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, a
combative former warlord known for his harsh views on women’s rights. Things
quickly went downhill when a female delegate complained directly to Mr. Sayyaf
and was hustled out by security guards. Other delegates hooted and clapped to
drown out her protest.
State-run television, RTA, which broadcast the
proceedings, posted a banner on Twitter showing images of Mr. Ghani and Sher
Mohammed Abas Stanekzai, the chief Taliban peace negotiator. Beside them were
photos of two women with their faces covered — one by a niqab, a veil that
leaves the eyes visible, and the other by a burqa, the all-encompassing garment
forced upon women under the Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001.
After a torrent of complaints on social
media, a new banner appeared. Mr. Ghani and Mr. Stanekzai were still depicted,
but four smiling women wearing head scarves that left their faces uncovered
were added to the two with their faces concealed.
And on Monday, as the jirga opened, some
female delegates arrived dressed in burqas.
“Most of these women have come from provinces
and they have no idea why they are here,” said a delegate, Taiyaba Khavari.
Ms. Khavari and other women said they grew
disillusioned as they were insulted or interrupted by male delegates.
Torpekai, 45, a delegate who goes by one
name, said she had been pleased to be among war victims invited to Kabul. She
said her 18-year-old son, a police officer, had been killed by the Taliban.
Ms. Torpekai said she had planned to tell
delegates that she wanted the Taliban punished if a peace deal gave them a role
in a postwar government. But the men who dominated the jirga did not bother to
listen.
“No one would hear me out,” Ms. Torpekai
said. “They said women shouldn’t be here — this isn’t a discussion for women.”
It was not just women who felt disillusioned
by the jirga. Social media lit up with arch commentary from Afghans who
dismissed the assembly as a patronage tool for Mr. Ghani. Some critics said the
jirga usurped Afghanistan’s Parliament.
The government shut down the capital for five
days, giving government workers the week off while other Afghans fumed over
blocked roads and security sweeps. Taxi drivers complained that they were cut
off from fares. Shopkeepers moaned that customers could not reach them.
The jirga was caught up in a bruising
presidential election campaign, in which Mr. Ghani is struggling to stay
relevant while his government is excluded from peace talks in Doha, Qatar,
between the Taliban and the United States. The militants refuse to meet with
the government, calling it illegitimate.
Many of Mr. Ghani’s political rivals
boycotted the jirga, among them Abdullah Abdullah, the president’s partner in
the unity government. Mr. Abdullah is running for president against Mr. Ghani.
Rahmatullah Nabil, another presidential
candidate who boycotted, called the jirga a waste of money and a campaign rally
for Mr. Ghani.
Jirga organizers said it was an effective
exercise in grass-roots democracy that incorporated a wide range of Afghan
society. Among the delegates were urban and rural residents, victims of war and
terrorism, young people, traditional elders, and ulema, or Islamic religious
scholars.
Organizers said that with the government
sidelined at the peace talks, the jirga produced a national consensus on
conditions for peace with the Taliban. The assembly’s recommendations are not
legally binding.
“It’s our sacred tradition,” said Mohammed
Umer Daudzai, who organized the gathering. “I doubt that anybody will say
consensus-building or dialogue is a bad idea.”
The jirga has a long and contentious history.
After delegates to a secret jirga in the late 18th century conspired to replace
the Afghan ruler, Zaman Shah, he had them all killed. In 1987, a gunfight
erupted outside a jirga hall, killing or wounding 30 people.
In 2002, some 200 female delegates attended a
jirga that elected Hamid Karzai president. But many women had to jostle with
male delegates for public microphones. Others said they had been threatened by
government intelligence agents.
At the close of the jirga on Friday, Mr.
Ghani accepted its recommendation to seek a cease-fire, a goal of the Doha
peace negotiations. He urged the Taliban to negotiate within Afghanistan and
said he would release 175 Taliban prisoners.
Among other recommendations accepted by Mr.
Ghani was a demand that any postwar government honor the Afghan Constitution
and protect the rights of women and children. He thanked the delegates,
“especially the women.”
One delegate, Wazhma Tukhi, 25, said she was
satisfied. “The Constitution protects our rights, and that’s all Afghan women
want,” she said.
But another, Masuma Bahar, 24, said the jirga
should have made a stronger case for preserving women’s gains over the past 18
years.
“There were women on the board and they
should have raised their voices, but they haven’t done anything,” she said.
Rod Nordland contributed reporting.
