Dr Asma Zahoor<\/p>\n
In recent decades, armed conflict has blighted the lives of millions of civilians. Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are common in many armed conflicts<\/p>\n
It is high time for the world power stakeholders to realize that anything imposed on any people from outside without taking into consideration their sociocultural norms and historical context never results in success. Evolution is a gradual process; it cannot be imposed through war.
\nThe Charter of Human Rights declared by the UNO apparently talks about equal rights for all human beings. But even a cursory glance at the recent makes it crystal clear how these rights have been violated in the act of war, with special reference to long years of multiple Afghan wars and what are the traumatic impacts of these wars on already suffering Afghan women.
\nIt is written in Human Rights in ArmedConflict, 2011, \u201cIn recent decades, armed conflict has blighted the lives of millions of civilians. Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are common in many armed conflicts. In certain circumstances, some of these violations may even constitute genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.\u201d Unfortunately the Afghans suffered from most of these violations. Even the UNO Charter of Human Rights failed to protect the humans in the war zones from multiple violations.
\nWhile looking at the traditional Afghan culture we come to know that Afghanistan is multicultural and multiethnic society, though there is Urban and rural divide but largely it is a conservative, male dominated and nomadic society. The percentage of literate and working women in the modern sense of the world is very low. Since it has always been a fragmented society we could not see uniform development. There have been just a few cities which were somewhat developed. The constant political unrest in this land locked country could not let it make overall progress.
\nIn the already loose governmental structure of this tribal society Russian invasion in 1971 made it a battleground for the international war mongers for more than the next 40 years or so. Russia used to be the rival super power then and a cold war had been going on between America and Russia. The Russian did not foresee the long lasting consequences of this venture that on the one hand turned Afghanistan into a permanent battleground for many decades to come and on the other hand disintegrated Russia.
\nThe Americans under the umbrella of the UNO gathered most of the nations from the world, inflamed Muslims\u2019 religious sentiments, and convinced them to use all their material and human resources to defeat Russia in the name of the Holy War. The warrior Afghan nation was on the frontline of the battleground, every male member of 14 years and above was entrapped in the war and the Mujahideen were created, trained, sponsored in the camps where they were in a way brainwashed to do and die.
\nWhat is war trauma? War is the opposite of peace. The very word has all negative connotations associated with physical, mental, psychological displacement, constant shadow of mortal terror, loss of property, means of living and one\u2019s loved ones. The very uncertainty associated with war is traumatic and tells upon human nerves and psyche.
\nNow what happened on the domestic front when almost all the male members went to fight the holy war, for the domestic male dominated women life became all the more trying. Emotional, social and financial insecurity in the hostile war zone under the lurking danger of losing a loved one every now and then traumatized them to an unimaginable possible extent. Afghanistan had never been a developed welfare state where the families of the soldiers had been taken care of. So the already devastated woman had to take care of their household and family members for which they had never been trained. There has never been any proper medical facility, career counseling, education, earning facilities available.
\nMany of them had to suffer from the trauma of displacement, to migrate to other countries, some friendly, and some hostile and live in Muhajir camp at the mercy of international and humanitarian aid. Leaving one\u2019s home even if for the greener pastures is not all plain sailing but leaving one\u2019s place with the fear never to return is all the more traumatic. Just imagine the mothers, the wives, the sisters and the daughters receiving the dead bodies or the news of the death of their loved ones every now and then .In most of the cases in the distressing fear of never seeing them again.
\nA whole generation of young Afghan and sentimental Muslim youth from all over the world was transported to the Mujahideen\u2019s camps, brainwashed and trained which culminated in the guise of Taliban\u2026those aliens who were introduced to special mindset away from their families.They were only familiar with warfares.They were instrumental in serving the Western purpose to defeat Russia, but unfortualy after they outlived their utility for the west ,they were left in the lurch to fight among themselves ,local war lords kept fighting for one reason or the other and life never turned back to normalcy to the poor Afghan women.
\nAfter 9\/11 the world stage was set for the next episode of war, the Mujahedeen of yester years were turned into terrorists into the new grand narratives to further destroy the already war torn Afghanistan.Constant, indiscriminate bombardment turnedit into Tora bora, a wilderness of death dancing all around. The whole Afghan nation was eyed suspiciously by the world .War in the country and alienation outside further traumatized the Afghan women.
\nEvery nation has its own socio-cultural norms and has the right to live accordingly .No nation has the right to impose its model of \u2018enlightenment and civilization\u2019 upon others. Yet this is what the Western world has done to further traumatize the already suffering Afghan women. They were exposed to Western value systems by introducing foreign models of education and employment in the restricted safe zones of Kabul and around. Some were allured, some were still in \u2018to be or not be\u2019 and the others kept wondering what was their real identity and how many times in one life they would have to suffer from the identity crisis that the world took another turn in the form of withdrawal of the Allied forces. The house of cards that was built on a fragile foundation crumbled again. What to talk about getting education in the modern institutions, working in liberal atmosphere and having a luxurious abode they have been traumatized by yet another grave human crises left at the mercy of the harsh weather, hunger and starvation while the so-called champions of human rights went back after the long fruitless endeavor destroying the whole fabric of Afghan culture and civilization, their land ,their meager resources in short all The question at the end to ponder upon is has the 40 years long wars for one purpose or the other have lessened the sufferings of the Afghan women or further traumatized them?<\/p>\n
The writer is Head of Mass Communication Department in Rawalpindi Women University, canbe reached at azeng@f.rwu.edu.pk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr Asma Zahoor In recent decades, armed conflict has blighted the lives of millions of civilians. Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are common in many armed conflicts It is high time for the world power stakeholders to realize that anything imposed on any people from outside without taking into consideration their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3294,3295,3293,932],"class_list":{"0":"post-240309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-afghan-women","8":"tag-dr-asma-zahoor","9":"tag-traumatic-impact","10":"tag-war"},"yoast_head":"\n