Karzai's Selfishness
I was deeply saddened when I heard that the 'rape law' for the Shia family has been legalised by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President. Even before the law was enacted, women were ill treated in Afghanistan (by using the word ill treated, I'm grossly under stating the facts), but now they will be tormented by people who will believe that it is their legal right to do so and will actually take pride in all this.
Islam is a beautiful, pure religion. It treats everybody with a lot of love and respect. The Quran does not advice men to take on many wives and treat them as sex objects. Many teachings are taken out of context and manipulated for personal gain. There are innumerable examples of non Muslims converting so that they can take a second wife. But there are many who have converted to Islam because of their sheer faith and belief like Muhammad Ali(previously known as Cassius Clay), the world renowned boxer and back home, A.R. Rehman, the music genius.
Every individual needs to be treated with respect and given freedom to live life on their own terms and do what they wish do do. Everyone has a right to dream, to pursue their dreams and to fulfil their desires. Such freedom should not be curtailed unless it poses a serious threat to society. Treating a certain section of society with utter contempt, reducing them to a level where they are not considered as people with feelings and behaving as if they are just there to satisfy your whims and do your bidding is barbaric. And, a leader of a nation, indulging in such acts to ensure a strong vote back is absolutely shocking, immoral and inhuman. It just goes to show that power crazed people can stoop to any level. But what he does not realize is that he is leaving behind a legacy of hate and discrimination. History will remember him as the president who failed in his duties, failed his country and couldn't protect the interests of everybody in the country.
On humanitarian and ethical grounds, we do have a responsibility towards the oppressed women who need permission to get educated, to go to work and who are mistreated at every step. I sincerely pray that their condition improves soon and that they enjoy the same privileges as you and I. I hope Karzai realizes his duties towards his country and works for the betterment of society and does not push them further backwards by such draconian laws. And may be I'm being too positive but I also wish that even though the law has been passed, better sense will eventually prevail.
Islam is a beautiful, pure religion. It treats everybody with a lot of love and respect. The Quran does not advice men to take on many wives and treat them as sex objects. Many teachings are taken out of context and manipulated for personal gain. There are innumerable examples of non Muslims converting so that they can take a second wife. But there are many who have converted to Islam because of their sheer faith and belief like Muhammad Ali(previously known as Cassius Clay), the world renowned boxer and back home, A.R. Rehman, the music genius.
Every individual needs to be treated with respect and given freedom to live life on their own terms and do what they wish do do. Everyone has a right to dream, to pursue their dreams and to fulfil their desires. Such freedom should not be curtailed unless it poses a serious threat to society. Treating a certain section of society with utter contempt, reducing them to a level where they are not considered as people with feelings and behaving as if they are just there to satisfy your whims and do your bidding is barbaric. And, a leader of a nation, indulging in such acts to ensure a strong vote back is absolutely shocking, immoral and inhuman. It just goes to show that power crazed people can stoop to any level. But what he does not realize is that he is leaving behind a legacy of hate and discrimination. History will remember him as the president who failed in his duties, failed his country and couldn't protect the interests of everybody in the country.
On humanitarian and ethical grounds, we do have a responsibility towards the oppressed women who need permission to get educated, to go to work and who are mistreated at every step. I sincerely pray that their condition improves soon and that they enjoy the same privileges as you and I. I hope Karzai realizes his duties towards his country and works for the betterment of society and does not push them further backwards by such draconian laws. And may be I'm being too positive but I also wish that even though the law has been passed, better sense will eventually prevail.
An emotional overview of the entire situation. Nevertheless it has been aptly discussed about the ill-effects of the proposed law, if at all it can be called a law. But I think it would be unfair to single out Karzai for the entire blame game. Ofcourse at the end of the day, it's his signature which matters. But let's not forget, the nation's name is Afghanistan, where one has to keep several forces in mind before even taking a sip of water, the Taliban being the foremost. The whole political and beaucratic system of most of the middle east countries have been reduced to mockery. So such a law was expected any time. Unless USA applies pressure, I don't see any betterment of the situation. Repealing the act is something which will never happen. I have all my sympathy for the Afghan women, who after decades of dark ages were dreaming of better lives, but the flickering flame has been brutally extinguished by this decision.
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