I have been hearing about Karzai's new law where a husband can demand sex or rape his wife. Oh really! Is that the major failing of the Karzai government or this is some kind of cruel joke for Canadians and Afghan people. The Harper government will push Karzai and he will back off from enacting the law. Wow, is that not a great achievement of the Harper government. It will bring revolution in Afghanistan. "Mission accomplished". Is it possible that all this was cooked up to raise the profile of Harper? Don't get upset, I will explain.
I believe there are laws on the books in Afghanistan against rape. The real problem is that these laws are not being enforced. Forget about husband/wife relations, just think of rape. If a woman in Afghanistan gets raped what happens? You would know if you have been following the news. The woman, the victim, will get all the blame. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time and then may be beheaded. So what is the big deal about the husband demanding sex if the culture allows even more serious abuse? And by our standards, crime.
Let us look at the husband forcing his wife for sex. I believe that under the current customs, based on my research, she is doomed. All the husband has to do is tell her parents and brothers. Parents and brothers will quickly label her a tramp and beat the hell out of her or kill her because she is married to the man and she insulted her parents' family for being a tramp. Given the current customs, you really do not need any laws to allow such rape.
What needs to be done is extensive awareness and education so that the general public understands individual rights and respects them and accepts laws which protect violation of rights. Now that cannot be done through bullets or killing people, it only can be done through a long education process. Laws are important but changing values are even more important which takes a long time and patience. So please Harper and company, stop feeding us crap that you have changed Afghanistan by killing a few so-called Taliban. Many of our own soldiers are losing their lives in the process. Not so. That approach was wrong from day one.
I think "what needs to be done" LD is to understand how diverse and widespread are the problems in Afghan society that will keep it from becoming anything we would consider acceptable. Karzai may be many things - weak, duplicitous and conniving - but he's not stupid. He didn't sign off on that law believing the West would let it pass. I suspect it's his way of admitting his country is sliding back into feudal fundamentalism and that, in the context of his political future, is the side he needs to be on now.
ReplyDeleteAll the power players in his country - his corrupt bureaucracy, the warlords, the common criminal element and the drug lords, not to mention the insurgency itself - support a return to feudalism. Try to name any democratic reformers among them.
Karzai's not strong enough to transform his country. We're not strong enough to do that much to help him. The forces on the other side of this teeter-totter are growing steadily more powerful, more influential.
Thank you MoS for your comment. I strongly agree with you.
ReplyDeleteA military solution is almost impossible in that area. The idiotic invasion and conducting of the war by Bush has not only further destabalized Afghanistan, but Pakistan as well.
Right now, it seems very difficult as to what the long term solution will be -- but I would think that Canada, US, & NATO has lost the trust and credibility of the Afghan people. I only wish that the UN was a little stronger body so that someone can go in Afghanistan, earn their trust, and change the country from inside. If that could be achieved, then that would be best for that area, for the peace in that region and for the rest of the World overall.
Why do people even think like this?
ReplyDeleteIts nothing new.
Women have been considered property since the beginning of patriarchy.
The fight for women's rights is relatively recent in his story.
As a child in a rural prairie town I witnessed abuse of women daily and nightly.
We shared our stories at recess .
But we weren't supposed to talk about it.
Also, its not a Muslim thing. Christians ... well you know those tales too.
Oemissions, you are absolutely right. It has nothing to do with any religion and everything to do with cultural values. That is why education, education and more education and awareness is needed.
ReplyDelete