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The recent surge of portraying Afghan women in burqas as the most vulnerable strata of society on the verge of ruin has gravely hurt the sentiments of the Muslim women around the world.

The US is just not fond of the idea of accepting its defeat nor of pledging to take full responsibility of its gruesome actions in an honorable way. It literally took America 20 years to replace Taliban with Taliban.

US cannot justify its actions under the garb of national security and integrity no matter how hard it tries as it ruthlessly took away countless innocent lives without showing even a single ounce of remorse for the grave atrocities committed by it.

The US administration wreaked havoc in Afghanistan and exposed its citizens to death, terrorism, violence, instability. “The war will never be over, never, as long as somewhere a wound it had inflicted is still bleeding,” Heinrich Boll, German Nobel Prize winner for literature, characterized the long-term effects of wars.

As of April 2021, more than 71,000 Afghan and Pakistani civilians are estimated to have died as a direct result of the war.

Now the US has resorted to the aid of unethical and crooked means by questioning Afghan women’s choice of attire and trying to portray Afghan women as helpless and passive victims. Many Muslim women have been aware for some time that the Western media, particularly in the US, tends to present them as being in need of sexual freedom or, on other occasions, oppressed and submissive or, worse, associated with terrorism.

Nobody – literally nobody – has the right to treat women as mere objects and pawns in order to justify their actions۔

The ‘war on terror’ has been built upon a plethora of myths and fabricated narratives. One such narrative has included the ‘saving’ or ‘liberation’ of Muslim women. In 2002 Laura Bush said: ‘Because of our recent military gains in much of Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes. They can listen to music and teach their daughters without fear of punishment. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.’ Whilst it is true that the Taliban oppressed and still oppresses women, this kind of ‘savior’ narrative was used to justify the US’ violent military infiltration and ultimate attempt to maintain global dominance. This is also not the first time that women have been used to justify and legitimize foreign intervention. In fact, many colonizing missions have used a similar line of rhetoric.

These narratives and depictions are often a clear attempt to validate and maintain Western supremacy. It is important to consciously and continually recognize how such damaging media representations do not exist within a political vacuum but are a clear reflection of wider national and foreign policy measures.

The occidental culture sees veil as rooted in the patriarchal culture of Islam which they claim has aimed to deprive women of their basic human rights such as right to one’s own body. Thus Muslim women are considered to be maltreated and subservient people who need to be enlightened and rescued.

Anti-Muslim sentiments existed long before 2001 but the September 11 attacks intensified the anti-Muslim views such as the presumption that Islam is inherently violent and Muslims have a strong inclination towards terrorism and that veil represents oppression and enslavement.

The only positive portrayals of Muslim women describe them as liberated by their lack of hijab or veil. The concept of western feminism cannot be applied to suit the needs all women belonging to different cultural and religious backgrounds nor should it be used to dehumanize them altogether. Homogenizing a hugely diverse set of people is not just insular, it is simply inaccurate and also depicts xenophobic attitude.

The wicked scheme of US of trying to use veil as a weapon in order to divert the attention of the world from the main issue (that is of trying to find ways and means and of working together with its allies in order to maintain peace and stability in Afghanistan and ensuring the safe placement of refugees and protection of their rights) is disappointing and raises concerns regarding the self-acclaimed position of US as a so-called defender of human rights and a torch-bearer of democratization and liberalism.

Nobody – literally nobody – has the right to treat women as mere objects and pawns in order to justify their actions no matter how horrifying and sickening they are. The women’s choice of covering their heads has nothing to do with the dilapidated condition of Afghanistan. Only United States is responsible for the enigmatic situation that has transpired in Afghanistan.

The objective of the US should be to transition out of Afghanistan in a way that minimizes the chance of a massive humanitarian catastrophe, such as an escalating civil war, and that preserves the capacity for humanitarian assistance during such a calamity not to stray from the main subject by exploiting Afghan women’s right of self-expression.

A contributed article by Sunbal Nawaz Lashari

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