Adela Azin Nazari
Only 18 days had passed since the Taliban take overrule over, that is, on September 3, women in Herat took to the streets and protested in response to the deprivation of some of their basic rights. After that, women came to the street in front of the Ministry of Finance and President’s Office of Administrative Affairs in Kabul city and raised their voice of protest. A number of these women created a protest movement called “Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement” to coordinate their plans in the future; Of course, there is a difference regarding the creator and leader of this movement.
Monesa Mubarez, a protester who participated in the September 4 protest movement against the Taliban administration, claims that she formed the Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement of Power movement on November 6, 2021 with a number of participants in this protest movement. On the other hand, Rokhshanah Rezaei, another protester, claims that she has formed and leads this movement. Ms. Rezaei tells Silk Way that she created the Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement with Basira Nikzad, Sima Sahar Yaftali, Samira Khairkhah, Narges Sadat and Zarifa Yaqoubi.
As for the reason behind the naming of Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement, Ms. Mubarez and Ms. Rezaei both agree. The Silk Road weekly, in a conversation between these two protesters, says; At a time when Taliban was successively restricting the rights and freedoms of women by issuing a declaration, it was necessary for powerful women to stand up against this group. Therefore, the name of this movement was chosen as “Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement”.
Struggle Method
The Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement started its activities with protest marches and gatherings in the street, and then, due to the violence of the Taliban and the imprisonment of its members, it held its protest programs in closed places, which has continued until now. However, as long as it was possible, the members of this movement protested intensively in the streets against the Taliban from time to time; In a way that they did not make a public call, only a few people planned together and protested in a place far from the reach of the Taliban, with more escape routes; But later, when this becomes impossible, the protests of this movement continue by writing letters and emails to international organizations, holding special campaigns and protesting with the language of music and group whispering, holding press conferences and creating secret schools.
From the beginning of its formation, the Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement has organized more than 50 protest programs. These programs have been held in the cities of Kabul, Balkh, Quetta, and Islamabad in Pakistan, as well as in Iran; Programs for which no institution has provided financial cooperation to this movement. Mrs. Mubarez says: “We didn’t have a sponsor from the beginning and we still don’t have one. If money and support was needed, only our members would contribute from their personal property. For example, those members of ours who had better financial conditions took part in the printing of the banner, in providing the money for small items such as markers and some publications.”
As long as the Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement could start a protest march and gathering in the streets, its members would gather together and plan their activities before holding the protest; But later, when the Taliban intelligence follows the protesters, they are forced to communicate with each other through WhatsApp and email or another safe way, and develop plans for their protests.
At the beginning of the street struggles of Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement, men were also with the women protesters; But according to Ms. Mubarez, since the Taliban initially arrested male protesters, the space for male cooperation was limited sooner. Mrs. Mubarez says that after the arrest and torture of several male colleagues of the APWM no other man was present in the street protests of this movement; But behind the scenes, the men remained partners. Men stayed with women protesters in writing and editing the text, publishing materials, financial cooperation, and in the protests of Pakistan to coordinate with the police.
How many members of the movement were tortured?
Since the beginning of women’s street protests in the cities, the Taliban tried to silence these movements by arresting and torturing the protesters, and the members of the Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement was an exception from this suppressing policy. Monesa Mubarez says that the members of this movement have been arrested and tortured many times by the Taliban. In one of the protests in Kabul, 15 members of the Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement were taken hostage by the Taliban for two and a half hours. On August 13, on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the collapse of the republic, 10 members of the Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement, including Monsa Mubarez, were imprisoned in an underground for four hours. These protestors were released after the physical inspection and taking their mobile phone of Mrs. Mubarez by the Taliban.
Once again, in a street protest, 30 members of the movement were injured with butts and rifle shafts, and two of them, Khatera Rasekh and Narges Sadat, members of the leadership of the Afghan Powerful Women Movement, were arrested and imprisoned. Khatera was released on bail two days later. Khatera, who was two months pregnant, had an abortion after she was released due to the torture she suffered from the Taliban forces.
Narges Sadat, who was one of the founders of this movement and currently leads the New Future of Afghanistan Women’s Movement, stayed in Taliban prison for 66 days. She was released on bail, money, pressure from the media and the United Nations, and the protests of the girls.
Ms. Mubarez says that another member of the APWM, who was the gender advisor of the Ministry of Interior in the previous government, had her home in Kabul besieged twice by the Taliban. But she was not at home. This protester was on the run in Baghlan and Kunduz for six months and finally fled to Pakistan through smuggling for fear of being arrested by the Taliban.
When Monsa Mubarez was in Kabul, her house was besieged twice by the Taliban. But, both times she was not at home. After an interview she had with TOLOnews in which he talks about Taliban leaders, the Taliban Ministry of Defense issues a direct arrest warrant for her. Mrs. Mubariz lived secretly for two months after this issue and finally, with the cooperation of an institution, she was transferred to Pakistan through Torkham border.
Although there are many difficulties and threats in the way of Afghanistan Powerful Women’s Movement, its members, the members of APWM say like other female protesters, they will continue their struggle against the Taliban in different ways until justice is established in Afghanistan.
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