Rarely seen without a smile on her face, Shukria Barakzai is one of the most successful women in male-dominated Afghanistan — a member of parliament who hopes one day to be president.
A politician at the vanguard of women’s rights and praised in the fight for democracy, Barakzai is a good news story in the country’s post-Taliban era.
But in her personal life she describes herself as “a victim of tradition.” Not unusually for Afghanistan, her husband took another wife. The fact that he could do so without even telling her left her feeling “disturbed and hurt.”
Photo: AFP
For most of her countrywomen, polygamy is an unquestioned part of life. But for Barakzai, with her more Western outlook, it was a bitter blow.
“Many people might think I’m a successful woman. Outside the home, it’s true, I’m successful, I’m happy,” Barakzai says “but in my personal life — that’s not the case.”
“It is very painful for me that my husband has another wife. I myself am a victim of male violence against women in this country. My husband married his second wife without even telling me,” she said.
Even more painful was the fact that she could do nothing about it in the devout Islamic nation, where men are allowed to have up to four wives. Sharia law, on which Afghanistan’s constitution is based, says that men with multiple wives must treat all wives equally and that their first must approve a second marriage.
“I learnt it later from friends. It really hurt,” Barakzai said of her husband’s second marriage in 2004, 12 years after their own wedding.
The 37-year-old mother of three decided to launch a campaign with a group of like-minded women to fight against polygamy and protect other women.
As part of her efforts, Barakzai has been campaigning against forced marriages and child marriages — practices that are still common in Afghanistan.
“I have gone through this pain, so I know the cure. Through campaigning among Afghan women we are working to encourage them to not become the second wife of a man,” she said.
Barakzai has dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights — under Taliban rule that banned women from public life and in post-Taliban Afghanistan.
During the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, Barakzai, who has a degree in geology and archeology from Kabul University, ran underground schools for girls who were officially banned from receiving an education.
Thanks to her secret classes, eight of her students went on to university.
With the collapse of the Taliban after the 2001 US-led invasion, Barakzai published Women’s Mirror, a weekly magazine in a bid to launch a women’s rights campaign.
In 2005, she won “International Editor of the Year” from the World Press — a US-based media rights group. The same year, Barakzai won a seat in parliament, beating hundreds of rivals including her husband, Abdul Ghafar Dawi, a prominent Kabul-based millionaire.
Her success has given her courage to hope to run for president in 2014 — the next presidential ballot after scheduled polls this year.
“Not this time, but in the next elections, surely I will stand for president and I’m sure I’ll win. I’ve already started campaigning for it,” she says, smiling.
In Afghanistan, long ruled by men, mostly from conservative ethnic Pashtun tribes who oppose female influence in political life, few women have made it to the top levels of government.
Barakzai says that era has gone.
“Look at the parliamentary elections. My husband, Ghafar, spent half a million dollars on his campaign but couldn’t secure half the votes I won. I think the era when women didn’t have a voice is gone.
“If people trust me and vote for me in the parliamentary elections then why not the presidential elections?” she said. “I’m going to stand and I’m going to win it.”
THE TRAGEDY OF PUNCH: Footage of the seven-month-old Japanese macaque has gone viral online after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week. Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born in July last year at Ichikawa City Zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. Without maternal guidance to help him integrate, Punch has turned to the toy for comfort. He has been filmed multiple times being dragged and chased by older Japanese macaques inside the enclosure. Early clips showed him wandering alone with
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said he did not take his security for granted, after he was evacuated from his residence for several hours following a bomb threat sent to a Chinese dance group. Albanese was evacuated from his Canberra residence late on Tuesday following the threat, and returned a few hours later after nothing suspicious was found. The bomb scare was among several e-mails threatening Albanese sent to a representative of Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance troupe banned in China that is due to perform in Australia this month, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement. The e-mail
TENSIONS: The march went ahead without clashes, but arrests were still possible as police investigate suspects behind Nazi salutes, racist slurs and homophobic insults Thousands of people on Saturday marched in southeastern France under heavy security in tribute to a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge. The crowd — many wearing black and some covering their lower faces with masks — marched through the city of Lyon carrying flowers and placards bearing pictures of Quentin Deranque and the words: “justice for Quentin” and “the extreme left kills.” The 23-year-old died from head injuries following clashes between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a demonstration against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed
‘OCCUPATION’: Hong Kong said it had lodged ‘stern protests’ with Panama’s consulate, and would ‘staunchly support’ the rights and interests of Hong Kong companies Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Monday ordered the temporary occupation of two ports run by a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the firm’s concession, escalating a dispute that has become a proxy battle between the US and China in Latin America. Mulino said in a speech that the administration and operation of the two ports on the strategic Panama Canal is to revert to the country’s National Maritime Authority to ensure their uninterrupted, safe and efficient operation. The occupation covers movable equipment at the ports and does not mean a definitive loss of
RSS