The American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and
the rule by a government under Hamid Karzai brought some advances in
women’s rights in the following two decades. However, the shambolic
withdrawal of American troops from Kabul in August 2021 reversed all the
good that its women had achieved.
Within a matter of days of
taking over the country, the Taliban erased all women from public life.
They were denied an education and had to give up work. Women were banned
from entering the city’s parks. Women judges were forced to flee the country or go into hiding as they were hunted down
and killed by the men whom they earlier imprisoned for the crimes they
committed. The remaining women leaders in the country’s administration
were expelled from office.
Fadhlina is either very optimistic or
extremely naive. She is hopeful of convincing the Taliban that
“educating women is not contrary to Islam but is in line with Islamic
values”.
Is
she aware the Islam that the Taliban subscribe to is not the Islam
which moderate Malays believe in? Moreover, Islam may not be the
underlying reason why women are repressed in Afghanistan.
The
nation’s population is roughly 80 percent rural and 20 percent urban. In
the outlying villages, tribal culture supersedes religious teachings.
How will Fadhlina negotiate their tribal customs and persuade them that
women deserve an education and have rights?
What M’sia has to offer
If
only Fadhlina would stop blowing her own trumpet. She said she wants
“the world to learn from Malaysia where we have much experience in
championing education”. Again, Fadhlina is confused.
Our experience lies in the 3Rs - race, religion and rasuah (bribery) - and the world has already learnt that we are the greatest kleptocracy in the world. We do not champion education but we do champion Malay supremacy.
In
some parts of the country, we have bog standard education. Perhaps,
Taliban leaders, like many of ours, send their children overseas to
receive a well-rounded education.
There are many unanswered questions regarding this visit by the Taliban.
Fadhlina
may have played host to the Taliban but was it because her boss was not
around? Did he extend the invitation to the Taliban to visit Malaysia?
Or had the Taliban expressed a desire to visit Malaysia to meet
Education Ministry officials? Did they visit other ministries as well?
The
education minister may have wanted to “seize every opportunity to
educate the Afghans”, but where are her priorities? Shouldn’t she attend
to the needs of our own students?
If Fadhlina needs help in this
direction, she could pay a visit to the rural areas of East Malaysia and
listen to the students and teachers there.
But she need not go to
Borneo. She could listen to the non-Malay and Orang Asli students on
the peninsula who are disappointed about being ignored and denied
opportunities because of racial quotas.
Some of us are not convinced that Malaysia is going to “school” the Taliban about education.
In
the conservative states of Peninsular Malaysia, the dress code, and
women being treated as second-class citizens, have already made their
mark. Films, theatre, music, and sports are heavily controlled by the
state.
No politician who wants to be re-elected dares to ban child
marriages, and in future, public floggings will be the new
“attraction”.
In time, might we adopt whipping and public stoning of women who commit adultery?
To justify the Taliban visit was Fadhlina’s story about Malaysians “teaching the Taliban to educate their women”.
Perhaps, the real reason was for the Taliban to teach us about repression.
Why
is this Madani administration actively supporting allegedly terrorist
organisations in the Middle East and repressive regimes which have no
respect for women?
