Afghan women who remember how, less than a decade ago, the Taliban government lashed them in public because they appeared in the marketplaces without a male companion, are now watching closely as Hamed Karzai's government pushes for peace talks with the insurgents. While few Afghan women are against the idea, they are following closely the efforts of the few women on the Higher Peace Council, to see whether they'll be able to represent their rights well or not. After almost 10 years of having a constitution and equal rights for men and women, the middle class andlower middle class in Afghanistan are now very worried that these peace talks might destroy all that has been achieved. The worry is about what will happen to the women of Afghanistan if Karzai successfully concludes a power-sharing agreement with Taliban. In some of the states already controlled and run by Taliban, Islamic hudod (regulations) are harshly applied, independently of the laws of the land. Who can guarantee that Taliban will suddenly start submitting to the laws of the land? And will parents be able to send their little daughters to school? Of course, many of the members of the Higher Peace Council aren't at all worried about their womenfolk, who are living in luxury faraway from trouble, in rich places like London and Dubai. For these members, women's rights are not a priority to be discussed with Taliban, although this is a matter of concern for many people, even former US First Lady Mrs Laura Bush, who recently told the BBC how worried she is about the women of Afghanistan. She has warned the politicians in Afghanistan to bear their county's women in mind while engaging in peace talks with Taliban. The ordinary Afghans, who live in the big cities like Kabul, Heart and Mazar-e Sharif, as well as activists, university students and journalists, have expressed their concerns to the President. They want President Karzai and his representatives at the peace talks to ensure equal rights for women, including public participation, no matter how important it is for Karzai to clinch a deal with Taliban. Earlier this month, Karzai announced the creation of the 68- member Higher Peace Council to spearhead the negotiations. Only eight of the members are women, none of whom are well -known to the public. “Acceptance of the entire Afghan Constitution, which grants men and women equal protection in law, is a non-negotiable condition for any peace talks with Taliban,” President Karzai has said. But everyone well knows what Taliban feel about women. Karzai's deputy spokesman Hamed Elmi said: "We have clearly said that the opposition must accept the Constitution. The achievements of the last nine years " human rights, women's rights " are not negotiable." But critics argue that the social and political rights of Afghan women, including the right to education, employment and political participation, have already been seriously abused in recent years under the Karzai government. And who can guarantee that Taliban won't impose their own strict Islamic law wherever they want? In southern provinces like Kandahar and Helmand, which are mainly controlled by Taliban, the locals are familiar with Taliban's attitude about women appearing in public. There are no schools for girls in these provinces or, better to say, noone would dare run a school for girls and no parent would dare send his or daughter to such a schoolgirl, even if there were one! For many Afghan women, especially the poor and displaced, survival is more important than talk about rights, especially in the areas torn apart by fighting. “We don't want that kind of peace which make us prisoners, as if we were back in the Middle Ages. We want peace that will bring us modernity and development. If not, no peace is better than living with fanaticism!” says a Kabul university student called Marziyeh, who, unsurprisingly, opposes unconditional peace talks with Taliban.
