Dawn is on the way: A Hazara woman’s account behind bars
“Afghanistan is now like hell for every girl who lives there. But I want the brave girls of Afghanistan to never give up.” (Photo credit: McKinley Tretler for Malala Fund)
27-year-old Sorayya recounts being arrested by the Taliban, the struggle of young women in Afghanistan and her call for global solidarity in the stand against gender apartheid.
When I lived in Afghanistan, I was a high school teacher for a year, while attending university. I also played handball in the Balkh province.
While I was teaching, I met girls who motivated me with conversations about their dreams and goals and how to build a bright future for themselves. My teammates in handball were goal-oriented girls — heroes who could be among the best players in the world in the future. I was walking exactly on the path of my dreams.
Suddenly the sky of our girls’ world turned black. No one can know the pain of a girl who suddenly loses her entire being — her freedom, hope, choice, dreams and future. Girls losing their human rights forced me to raise my voice.
From here, many girls who knew that this was not right found each other and started working together. That was not the first time that the Taliban terrorist regime ruled our land, so we knew that standing up against them was a high risk. But nothing could stop us — we had already lost all our rights. The Taliban forbade us from continuing our education — our first right —and confined us within the four walls of our houses.
“I want the brave girls of Afghanistan to never give up. It’s hard but if we don't think about ourselves, no one will think about us.” (Photo courtesy of Sorayya Heidary)
Women make up half of the society and an educated woman can lead to an advanced and progressive society. An educated woman can be a good mother and deliver a healthy child to society. She can be a good life partner and bring peace and tranquility to a home. She can also be a good doctor and cure people's pain. She can be a good leader and create a more equitable society.
Living is hell in the shadow of a government where everything is forbidden for women.
You don’t have the right to choose.
You don’t have the right to raise your voice.
You don’t have the right to study.
You don’t have the right to choose your spouse. You don’t have the right to freedom of speech.
You don’t have the right to choose your clothing. You don't have the right to wish, and with the slightest mistake in their opinion, you will be beaten and tortured and stoned.
If there was peace, tranquility and security in Afghanistan and women had the right to education, we would witness a society with female athletes and world champions. We would celebrate their championships. We would also have prominent doctors and female leaders who would be working on vital issues. Girls would be studying and setting their goals in the corner of libraries.
As a Hazara, I have not only suffered and experienced genocide but I have also been imprisoned for raising my voice for my rights as a woman.
I was in Taliban prison for 14 days and words cannot express how hard those 14 days were for me.
“If there was peace, tranquility and security in Afghanistan and women had the right to education, we would witness a society with female athletes and world champions...we would [also] have prominent doctors and female leaders who would be working on vital issues...[and] girls would be studying and setting their goals in the corner of libraries. ”
While my mother was sick I would talk to her every day, but when I was imprisoned, I couldn't talk to her anymore because they took my mobile phone. Every day for 14 days, it killed me to wonder how my mother was doing. With those nightmares and all that research, I felt like my life had come to an end.
What bothered me most was that my father was imprisoned because of me, and I had no news about his whereabouts while I was in prison. After I was released from prison, I had to leave my land. It took me almost a year to get to a safe place.
Afghanistan is now like hell for every girl who lives there. But I want the brave girls of Afghanistan to never give up. It’s hard but if we don't think about ourselves, no one will think about us.
I call on the diaspora and young Afghan activists fighting for gender equality to continue and intensify their efforts so that the world recognizes this crime. Imprisoning and confining nearly twenty million women is a crime against humanity.
Those standing in solidarity with Afghan women and girls in their fight against gender apartheid should accompany the underprivileged girls of Afghanistan at every step. They are currently experiencing the most difficult situation and their world is in despair. Give them financial, emotional, and educational support as much as possible.
From this journey, I learned that dawn is on the way. Although the path is long and difficult, it is possible.
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