How women’s bodies became grounds for violence in conflict-ridden Afghanistan

Rutba Iqbal / Awaz e Khwateen 

As I entered the small room in the area popularly known as Afghan Colony near Lajpat Nagar, I saw Khatera Hashemi, it took me a moment to register her face. I flashed a warm smile in her direction in a bid to comfort her, forgetting the fact that she probably cannot see me. She sat on a sofa, with a handkerchief bundled in her hands she kept wiping her dry eyes. As the team settled down the gravity of the situation hit us, Khatera Hashemi sat on the sofa with incipient nervousness in her voice. After taking a moment to brace herself, she started talking about the horror that would unnerve any human.

Khatera Hashemi served as a police officer in Ghazni, a city in Central Afghanistan. She was attacked on June 7, 2020 allegedly by the Taliban. Her narration of the attack sent the whole room silent. “I was stabbed 8 times and suffered trauma to my head, which left me unconscious for 4 days. I was stabbed in the eyes with a knife by my attackers ”. Khatera was days away from leaving Ghazni right before the attack, she was collecting her documents to flee, in a rush to save her life. After the attack, Khateera was then taken to Kabul, on waking up she found out both her eyes had been severely damaged during the attack, which left her with no vision.

Two month pregnant Khatera came to India in hopes of getting some of her sight back. It’s been 10 months and the doctors still have not given any good news. In this bleak situation Khatera gave birth to her daughter. She holds the baby girl in her arm, cradling her close to her chest with very little idea of what her daughter looks like.

Her husband sits beside her, taking turns to sway the baby girl in his arms. Khatera proceeds to talk about how her husband is unable to go to work despite being so tight with money. He helps Khatera navigate through the house and take care of their daughter. The couple sit close on the sofa tired of narrating their ordeal again and again. The baby’s colourful walker stands in the corner of the room serving as a strong contrast to the dark and inhuman travesty that the family went through.

Khateera then proceeds to talk about Taliban’s brutality. The grave hopelessness is conveyed by her fear that the children of Afghanistan are heading towards an orphaned and destitute future. She blames neighbouring Pakistan for their plight. Khatera believes Pakistan’s agenda helped the authoritarian regime in gaining such a strong foothold in Afghanistan. She reiterates that the perpetrators of oppression are a puppet of Pakistan, and it is Pakistan who holds the real reins.

She urges for a negotiation, for a country that is led by its people without giving into someone’s ulterior motives. She makes an appeal to the leaders to lead the country free of foreign vested interests. She narrates a story of horror and predicts danger to anyone who voices dissent, especially women. She warns the world to not fall for the facade and act while there’s time.