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Ms. Fawzia Koofi, a Selfless Leader, a Modern Thinker, Poet,a kind mother, an articulated teacher and a Linguist
Afghanistan-Women-Amanpour
Fawzia Koofi Interviewed by CNN News
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CORRECTION: Lede edited for historical accuracy.
Afghan women still struggle, 8 years on
(CNN) -- Afghan women have had seen their status rise and fall repeatedly
over the past three decades, before the strictly Islamic Taliban muscled their
way to power and forced women to again wear the burqa and stay out of school.
The U.S. bombardment of Afghanistan in 2001 drove the Taliban from the
halls of power, again lifting women to a better place. But now, a leading
female member of the Afghan parliament says, those hard-won gains are
retreating. "After 2001, I call it like a golden opportunity for woman in the first
five -- three, four, five -- five years," Fawzia Koofi, one of 68 female
members of the parliament, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
"However, like you had women in the parliament, you have several
movements of women. "You have girls going back to school. You have female
doctors in the hospitals. You have female teachers who are going to school.
With all this, I think the past three years, the situation of women is getting
worse."
The problem, she said, lies in political attitudes.
"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.
"I think there is need for a strong political government and a civil
government that actually is committed to equal rights and opportunities and to
the rule of law," she said. "Everybody, according to the Constitution, is equal
before the law."
"This is first. Rule of law is the key for progress of women."
Koofi said that polling indicated that "the ordinary people of
Afghanistan" were comfortable and in some cases favored female legislators --
and, perhaps more importantly, were supportive of women's issues.
But, she said, the greater danger lies with Afghanistan's former rulers
-- the fundamentalist Taliban.
"I think if they come back to power, women will be the first victim,
because they have demonstrated a strong voice of equality," Koofi said.
The Taliban imposes harsh restrictions on women, frequently flogging them
for violating their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
"It's not a time for the international community and Afghan government to
talk about bringing back Taliban to power," she said. "I think the situation
would go even worse compared to what it was in 1997 and 1998, when it comes to
women's issues, because after the removal of Taliban, you had such outspoken
women who were asking for their rights, who were asking for democracy, who were
asking for equality."
Koofi's comments come as the Obama administration considers its
Afghanistan policy. Some argue for a shift to counterterrorism operations and
away from counterinsurgency operations, which critics argue might give the
Taliban a leg up in the fight for the country.
But the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has asked
for thousands more troops to continue his counterinsurgency strategy.
A key test for Afghanistan will come when the final election results from
Afghanistan's disputed election are released, possibly as soon as this weekend.
How Afghan leaders react to those results will be closely watched by not only
human rights campaigners such as Koofi, but also the United States and NATO
countries that are considering their strategy in Afghanistan.
"I think what's important is, first of all, not only for women of this
country, for any human being in Afghanistan, we need to, first and foremost,
have a stable, strong government to be able to function and deliver," Koofi
said. "And then both men and women of this country will be able to benefit."
