{"id":10601,"date":"2019-05-15T21:01:21","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T19:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=10601"},"modified":"2019-05-20T07:08:10","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T05:08:10","slug":"you-should-be-in-the-kitchen-at-afghan-assembly-women-are-told-they-dont-belong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2019\/05\/you-should-be-in-the-kitchen-at-afghan-assembly-women-are-told-they-dont-belong\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You Should Be in the Kitchen\u2019: At Afghan Assembly, Women Are Told They Don\u2019t Belong"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE NEW YORK TIMES<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

By\u00a0Fatima Faizi<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0David Zucchino<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Afghan women at the traditional national assembly, or loya jirga, in Kabul on Monday. Credit<\/span>Omar Sobhani\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

A bearded man from Kandahar ordered her to shut up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told her: \u2018Peace has nothing to do with you. Sit down! You should be in the kitchen cooking!\u2019\u201d recalled Behnoh Benod, 31, a male delegate who witnessed the put-down.<\/p>\n

The assembly, known as a\u00a0loya jirga<\/a>, was convened by\u00a0President Ashraf Ghani<\/a>\u00a0to debate Afghanistan\u2019s path to peace. Organizers proudly pointed out that 30 percent of the 3,200 delegates were women.<\/p>\n

But several female delegates said they felt ignored, marginalized or patronized. They were told that men should lead the jirga\u2019s 51 committees and women should serve as secretaries. Some women complained that they were groped and fondled \u2014 not by men, but by women who patted them down during security checks.<\/p>\n

Other women said they had been confronted by male delegates who claimed to support women\u2019s rights, but only under Shariah, or Islamic law \u2014 a view shared by the Taliban.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked them which Shariah law, the\u00a0Taliban Shariah law<\/a>\u00a0or ISIS Shariah law,\u201d said a delegate, Sakina Hussaini, referring to the Islamic State.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSome men didn\u2019t accept women as human beings and I had to scream at them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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 elected women as committee secretaries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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President Ashraf Ghani speaking on Friday at the assembly, which was convened to debate Afghanistan\u2019s path to peace.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Rahmat Gul\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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\"\"President Ashraf Ghani speaking on Friday at the assembly, which was convened to debate Afghanistan\u2019s path to peace.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Rahmat Gul\/Associated Press<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For many women, the jirga got off to a dismaying start when Mr. Ghani appointed as chairman\u00a0Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf<\/a>, a combative former warlord known for his harsh views on women\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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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 \u2014 one by a niqab, a veil that leaves the eyes visible, and the other\u00a0by a burqa<\/a>, the all-encompassing garment forced upon women under the Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And on Monday, as the jirga opened, some female delegates arrived dressed in burqas.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these women have come from provinces and they have no idea why they are here,\u201d said a delegate, Taiyaba Khavari.<\/p>\n

Ms. Khavari and other women said they grew disillusioned as they were insulted or interrupted by male delegates.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one would hear me out,\u201d Ms. Torpekai said. \u201cThey said women shouldn\u2019t be here \u2014 this isn\u2019t a discussion for women.\u201d<\/p>\n

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t was not just women who felt disillusioned by the jirga. Social media lit up with arch commentary from Afghans who dismissed the assembly as\u00a0a patronage tool<\/a>\u00a0for Mr. Ghani. Some critics said the jirga usurped Afghanistan\u2019s Parliament.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The jirga was caught up in a bruising\u00a0presidential election campaign<\/a>, in which Mr. Ghani is struggling to stay relevant while his government is excluded from\u00a0peace talks in Doha, Qatar, between the Taliban and the United States<\/a>. The militants refuse to meet with the government, calling it illegitimate.<\/p>\n

Many of Mr. Ghani\u2019s political rivals boycotted the jirga, among them\u00a0Abdullah Abdullah<\/a>, the president\u2019s partner in the unity government. Mr. Abdullah is running for president against Mr. Ghani.<\/p>\n

Rahmatullah Nabil, another presidential candidate who boycotted, called the jirga a waste of money and a campaign rally for Mr. Ghani.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2019s recommendations are not legally binding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our sacred tradition,\u201d said Mohammed Umer Daudzai, who organized the gathering. \u201cI doubt that anybody will say consensus-building or dialogue is a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

The jirga has a long and contentious history. After delegates to a\u00a0secret jirga<\/a>\u00a0in 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.<\/p>\n

In 2002, some 200\u00a0female delegates<\/a>\u00a0attended a jirga that elected Hamid Karzai president. But many women had to jostle with male delegates for public microphones. Others said they had been\u00a0threatened<\/a>\u00a0by government intelligence agents.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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, \u201cespecially the women.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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One delegate, Wazhma Tukhi, 25, said she was satisfied. \u201cThe Constitution protects our rights, and that\u2019s all Afghan women want,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But another, Masuma Bahar, 24, said the jirga should have made a stronger case for preserving women\u2019s gains over the past 18 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were women on the board and they should have raised their voices, but they haven\u2019t done anything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n