I was horrified to see the accompanying picture, a few days ago and the following emotion was one of disgust. A pretty face marred. The fate that many women suffer in Afghanistan. Aisha's crime was that she fled an abusive husband. Why did she marry the man? Apparently she was given to him to settle a debt!!!!!!
How do you untangle a 'Talibanized' Afghanistan? How do you make any sense of the Aisha's? What goes through a man's mind when he cuts off a pretty girls nose and ears?
Lets look at it from the mans point of view. Aisha in running away from her husbands home, had shamed her husband and in our part of the world tantamount to 'nak katwana' or bringing shame to the family. The offending wife is made to pay with a mutilated face. That is what transpired.Is it culturally accepted? Yes it is. Is it right? No way.However it is like asking an American, as to why crazy people go around shooting innocent passerby, in their country or why they allow so many broken homes.Is it a sign of independence?
Time magazine went to town, crying that, that would be the fate of the Afghans should the Americans leave Afghanistan, now. While I'm not debating the politics of it the Americans must realize that Afghanistan has a culture which precedes their by thousands of years and their presence, is not going to alter things too much?The magazine's cover has a caption which says that 'What happens if we leave Afghanistan'. Importantly there is no question mark, it is a definitive statement.
The great news is that Aisha is travelling to the US to have her face restored. I'm looking forward to seeing that pretty picture on Time's magazine cover in the near future.Lets have some good news too......
