Ms Homeira Ghaderi (writer and women’s rights activist) made the following speech during the 118th Goftegu public debate of Armanshahr on 3 July 2013.
I express my gratitude for the persistence and fruitful citizenry action of Armanshahr Foundation. In a society where we need dialogue more than anything else, Goftegu (dialogue) even with its 10-year history in Afghanistan is still a new topic. The various institutions, civil society, groups and organisations that should engage in dialogue and bring about corrective education to change our mentality, play a very valuable role in our cultural development.
My presentation concerns the seven-year performance of Armanshahr in its numerous meetings on women to find out what it has done for women. Let’s begin by examining not just Armanshahr Foundation but all civil institutions in Afghanistan.
After the fall of the dark reign of the Taleban, a government took over that was quite powerful and efficient in the opinion of many people, because it enjoyed popular support. We all thought that the peace dove had nested in our country with the support of the international community, and that was something we badly needed in the context of our economic problems and the unstable political situation. Therefore, the 2000s were pleasant and promising years for our nation and our government.
Spontaneous non-governmental organisations gradually took shape and different spectra of converging ideas got together pursued the discourse of justice and equality in cultural, social and political domains; they impacted one another. There were so many groups and healthy demands that we were witness to rainbow movements. It was perhaps the result of our important achievement, i.e. the presence of an active civil society that brought about the same achievements in the domain of political monitoring. The goal of all those movements was to eliminate the discriminatory transitional operation. The equality seeking independent discourses on the cultural, political and economic domains were quite influential for establishing a healthy society. Those topics were discussed within the civil society, even though they resembled a project at first, each of those institutions pursued its own specific path later.
Some of them aimed for financial issues; some others supported the power institutions and engaged in political activities. However, it was fortunate that many of them were able to stay away from such issues and convert the dialogue projects to dialogue processes. These dialogue processes are still in place in Afghanistan and have borne fruit as well. Let me now introduce one of the good institutions that have gained a special status within the civil society, away from political issues, through social cultural activities.
I knew Armanshahr as a spontaneous civil move that has spared no efforts to achieve the people’s civil rights. We have two kinds of developments. One concerns reconstruction of the ruins that have resulted from natural events and wars. The other type is cultural development, which is much more important and valuable than the first. Storms will not destroy culture but wars do. We may build a building in six months and a city in six years, but we need a long time to rebuild the cultural and social ruins caused by war. The only solution to this problem comes through actions such as those of Armanshahr. That does not mean that we should underestimate the activities of other civil institutions, but here we wish to talk of a totally independent, dynamic and consolidated move. One of the things that Armanshahr has done, at least in the past two or three years when I have taken part in most of its meetings, is the publication and dissemination of diverse books in the women’s domain. Most books of Armanshahr have challenged the gender issue. Armanshahr has specifically concentrated on women’s issues.
In the developing countries, gender issues are hot social topics. In Afghanistan, after the collapse of the Taleban, the gender issue was one of the most important topics in the past few years. Challenging those sporadic, out of place topics and putting forward organised theoretical topics regarding women is one of the most important achievements of Armanshahr.
Alongside this topic, in my opinion, Armanshahr has basically stayed away from sexual apartheid. This means that you should first try to gain a sexual understanding of yourself. As a man, you should enjoy your manliness, your body and not be ashamed of your body. As a woman, you should enjoy your sexuality and be proud of it. This means having sexual consciousness and that is keeping away from disorderly sexual identity. That means our men should not be referred to with the identity of their women. Our women should not be referred to with the identity of their husband, brother and son. This is sexual consciousness. When you stay away from sexual apartheid, you wish to go beyond the discourse in the country. That has happened in modern countries, where sexual identity is not a question now and humans view themselves and others beyond their sexual identity. The most important cultural index in modern societies is the humanity index. Consequently, if we wish to lead our government – which consists of men and women – beyond sexual identity, the human aspect will gain much more significance than the sexual aspect.
Arriving at this culture depends on social conditions. Occasionally, such talks at some places lead your words towards blasphemy and atheism. I believe Armanshahr has been able to overcome all these problems. It is up to the nation to reach a conclusion. At what historical stage does our nation stand mentally and how much can it accept?
In the developed countries, apart from other small differences, there is a discussion about the wage difference between men and women. It is possible that a woman receives less pay than a man for the work she does. However, in the developing countries, the difference concerns wage and knowledge, i.e. the difference is not based on wages alone. Virginia Woolf says knowledge and wealth have never been distributed equally among men and women. This means the accumulation of capital and advance of science have always been in the hands of the male sex; patriarchy has always ruled wealth and knowledge.
As far as I have witnessed, Armanshahr has based its work on education both in regard to gender and other issues that have given us knowledge about our discourses. For example, when it publishes the Animal Farm by George Orwell in the domain of arts and literature, that is not a coincidence; it contains the social and political topics. By education and Armanshahr’s activities, I mean the nurturing of social mentality through disseminating knowledge.
Armanshahr has also realised that it should be the mouthpiece of a cultural outlook and defend a humanitarian structure in order to arrive at a consolidated economic structure as the foundation of the society. In the advanced countries, the most important and highest expenses are made to nurture human beings. Therefore, we need a human structure in order to achieve the appropriate social, cultural, political and economic structures. To achieve that goal that is a feature of advanced countries, Armanshahr has concluded that this can be done through cooperation of the various forces and powers within the society. Let’s keep in mind that education and knowledge always cause steadfastness. Empowerment of the people is somehow empowerment of the society. Empowerment of the society raises knowledgeable individuals and that cycle of knowledge will go on. This happens in meetings and dialogues and these dialogues are somehow the tool of a superior struggle to achieve the best.
I have the feeling that Armanshahr has chosen different courses to achieve its goal. What makes Armanshahr superior for me is its reliance on and belief in arts. The film festival that Armanshahr organised was unique. That is the basis of work in a modern country.
There have been novels published, with different ideologies. For example, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own is a feminist ideological discussion. When Armanshahr publishes a cultural book from Iran, Afghanistan or Tajikistan, it indicates that evaluation of the society and culture in this domain is very significant for Armanshahr. Throughout these years, Armanshahr has tried to examine women’s status both in our customs and our behaviour. For instance, in the past the local elders used their influence to settle the disputes, but the citizenship movements that have somehow substituted the traditional institutions are now trying to achieve people’s rights through legal channels.
Armanshahr is trying to teach us that, in order to reach an optimum condition in the society, we do not only have to comply with the laws that the government sets; we must also take spontaneous actions and cultural initiatives, because we are the ones who have to engage in civil activities in order to advance the society. That means, we have to take our responsibility in our own hands.
