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 When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.

Zahra Nader interviews Richard Bennett
Zan Times - Oct 31, 2025 - by Zahra Nader
{New UN Probe to investigate decades of Afghan abuses by all parties, interview with Richard Bennett
In Madrid, at the sidelines of the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan, Zahra Nader, Editor-in-Chief of Zan Times, sat down with Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan. Their conversation explores the struggle to document human rights under the Taliban’s rule — from Bennett’s renewed mandate and the creation of a new UN investigative mechanism, to the growing threats against journalists, the silencing of women, and the Taliban’s attempts to cut off Afghanistan from the world by shutting down the internet.
Zahra Nader: Thank you, Mr. Bennett, for giving us this opportunity to speak with you today. I want to go directly to talk about your mandate, which is renewed, and we are very happy for that. I want to know what will be your plan for the next year? How will you do your work considering the fact that you do not have access to go inside Afghanistan? And tell us about how your work will look like for the coming year.
Richard Bennett: Thank you very much, Zahra, for the interview and for that question. Yeah, of course, I’m happy that my mandate has been renewed for another year and that the resources for the mandate have been retained. Of course, I have not had access now for two years to Afghanistan, so I think it won’t make very much difference. We have already found ways to fulfill the mandate without visiting Afghanistan, using technology, and also because we, like many others, are able to get information from inside Afghanistan. I’ve produced three reports this year, and my fourth and final report will be presented to the General Assembly in New York on the 30th of October. You know, it’s actually not unusual for human rights mandate holders to be barred from the country they’re working in. We only need to look at Iran; there is a special rapporteur who is unable to visit. There is also a fact-finding mission for Iran, and that can’t visit either. If we look the other way to Myanmar, it’s the same. So it’s not satisfactory, but fortunately, these days we can use technology to overcome most of the hurdles. So my plan for the mandate in the coming year is, of course, to continue to focus quite a lot on the situation of women and girls, which is not improving, and my first report for 2026 will also be on the situation of women and girls. However, I’m keen to look at other issues as I have been already. One of these is the shrinking space for media and also for civil society generally. I also want to look more at the impact of the cuts in humanitarian aid. I know people have different opinions about this, but I think that it’s important that countries continue to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan because cutting the funding will hurt the people who are most in need. Rather than cutting, what needs to be done is to target the aid accurately so that it reaches the people who need it most. We’ll also want to look more at child rights and the situation of youth in Afghanistan and perhaps look at environmental issues. So these are some of the areas that I’ll be working on. Right now, I’m actually having an exercise or consultation with Afghans on what they see as the priorities for what they would like to focus on, and I want to be responsive to the wishes of Afghans in that respect.
Zahra Nader: Thank you so much for all that information. You mentioned technology and how that’s making our work possible, and as you know, the Taliban have targeted that very technology. They are trying to shut down the internet. They have done it for 48 hours — a total shutdown in Afghanistan that we experienced — and unfortunately, we media working in exile depend on the internet to do our work. I want to understand, what do you know about the internet cuts in Afghanistan and how do you anticipate that will impact your work and maybe our work as journalists who are working to cover Afghanistan? I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
Bennett: I think whenever we or whenever someone does something, there can be unintended consequences, and I actually think that’s what happened a few weeks ago. When the internet was shut down, there were unintended consequences. For example, the banks could not operate, the airlines could not operate, the airport closed. And it’s also very difficult to run a government these days without communications technology. So it’s not as easy as just shutting down because the de facto authorities are also affected. The economy would be badly affected. So I hope that telecommunications and the internet are fully restored and permanently restored. But I think we also need to perhaps look at what happens in other countries nearby who also have quite authoritarian governments, and they tend to apply filters to the internet so that access is not complete, but it’s also not fully cut either. I think we just have to find workarounds. You know, many Afghans and some of us in the international community are quite used to dealing with these kinds of obstacles, and I think we’ll find solutions.
At the same time, technology is very important these days for all of us. It’s a lifeline for the younger generation. And which brings to mind that even cutting the internet could cause instability. We only need to look a bit further east of Afghanistan to Nepal to see how the youth kind of revolted when the government there decided to cut social media. So I think that needs to be taken into account as well — stability and security concerns. So my recommendation, of course, is always that access to information is vital in any kind of open society, and if you deny access to information, I think there will be two consequences: one is that people will find workarounds anyway, and the other is that people will get frustrated, and so pressure will build up. So my view and recommendation is to allow access to information, allow criticism, allow the expression of different views, if they’re peaceful and not hateful. And then you have a chance of having a more stable society.
Zahra Nader: Unfortunately, that’s what the Taliban won’t do. Otherwise, you and I wouldn’t be here, I imagine. So my other question is that recently the UN approved the investigative mechanism for Afghanistan. I wanted to hear more about that mechanism. How does that differ from your work, and how hopeful are you that that will be helpful for the people of Afghanistan?} https://zantimes.com/2025/10/31/new-un-probe-to-investigate-decades-of-afghan-abuses-by-all-parties-interview-with-richard-bennett/


Where else can we go?
Zan Times - Oct 30, 2025 - by Farshid Aram
{‘Where else can we go?’ As refugees return, Afghanistan’s housing crisis deepens
This report has been published in partnership with The Indian Express
In September, Soheila* arrived in Herat with her husband and two young children. She had returned to Afghanistan after five years in the Iranian city of Esfahan, where her husband worked as a construction labourer and she stitched clothes from home. Today, their only shelter is a thin blue tarpaulin, tied to four poles on the rooftop of her sister’s house in Herat. “We looked everywhere for a house,” she says. “But with what little money we had and my husband out of work, it was impossible. Even in the outskirts of Herat, rents are between 5,000 and 7,000 afghanis a month. When a man earns 10,000 at most, how can a family pay that?” Her sister’s house is already overcrowded — eight people squeezed into two small rooms — but it is all that stands between Soheila’s family and the streets. She has searched nearby districts like Injil and Karukh, but every house is either too far or too expensive.  “We can’t stay here forever,” she says, glancing at the makeshift tent. “But where else can we go?”
A surge of returnees
Soheila is among more than 1.4 million Afghans who have returned from Iran since April, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. In total, over 2.2 million Afghans have been forced back from Iran and Pakistan in 2025, the largest wave of returns since the Taliban takeover. The Iranian government cites national security and economic hardship as reasons for the deportations. At border crossings such as Dogharoun and Milak, hundreds of buses arrive daily. While some refugees choose to return voluntarily, UNHCR says most are fleeing “under adverse circumstances,” often with only the clothes they can carry. At Herat’s Islam Qala border, UNHCR and local partners distribute blankets, gas cylinders, jerry cans, and basic food to newly arrived families. But the needs are far greater than the aid available.  From October 5 to 11 alone, more than 37,000 people returned, and 52 per cent of them were women, according to UNHCR. One in four arriving households is headed by a woman. UNHCR warns that Afghanistan’s response plan for 2025 is only 35 per cent funded, leaving millions without shelter or cash assistance.
Parks become camps
Across Herat, public spaces have transformed into makeshift refugee camps. In Jami Park, part of the green belt surrounding the shrine of the 8th-century mystic Mawlana Abdul Rahman Jami, hundreds of tents stretch between the trees. Here, families are dependent on charitable organisations and locals for medical care, drinking water, and food. “This place is like the refugee camps in Iran. There are long queues for the toilets, no showers, and only charities bring water and food,” says Fariha*, a mother of four who was deported in July. Taliban officials have divided the park into separate zones for families and single men, enforcing strict rules over women. Fariha says some families have been expelled for not meeting the Taliban dress codes.
Soaring rents, shrinking options
In the Jebrael district, Sudaba*, once a teacher at a self-run school for children in Tehran, now lives inside a mosque with her five-year-old son and three younger sisters. “We found one house for 12,000 afghanis a month,” she says. “But none of us have jobs. How can we afford it?” Fariha’s husband worked in Iran for 10 years. She says they saved money to start a new life back home, but they can’t afford a house now. “The rents have doubled, a house that cost 2,500 afghanis now costs 5,000.” According to real estate agents, rents in Herat have surged between 40 and 70 per cent in recent months, driven by demand from returnees and lack of available housing. In most districts, a basic home now costs at least 5,000 afghanis (£50) per month. “Dozens of people come every day, mostly returnees. Either there are no houses, or they can’t pay,” says Serajuddin, who runs an estate agency. “We show them homes we know they can’t afford, because there’s nothing else.” New Taliban regulations have made the search for homes harder. Tenants must provide personal details of all individuals, including children, along with a guarantor, to the intelligence agency. The wakil gozar (neighborhood representative) is required to report unfamiliar faces to the intelligence agency. Abdul Rouf*, a carpenter deported from Mashhad, found a small house for 6,000 afghanis. “But no one would vouch for me,” he says. “Without a guarantor, landlords are afraid to rent. I’ve been sleeping in a mosque for three weeks.”
A fragile country under strain
UNHCR warns that large-scale, involuntary returns are destabilising an already fragile country. Afghanistan remains gripped by poverty, natural disasters, and shrinking aid budgets. Recent earthquakes in the east have left nearly half a million people in need of humanitarian assistance, stretching the country’s capacity even further. Nearly half the population lives in poverty. In early 2025, about 14.8 million people were facing food shortages, including 4.7 million women and children suffering from acute malnutrition. The combination of stagnant incomes, diminished international assistance, restrictions on women’s economic participation, and mounting humanitarian needs has left millions of Afghans extremely vulnerable. Now, forced deportations have intensified the misery. Back on the rooftop, as the wind sweeps across Herat, Soheila tucks her children under a thin blanket. She is worried. Winter is coming, and thousands like her have no place to call home.
* Names have been changed to protect identity. (The author is a Zan Times journalist in Afghanistan writing under a pseudonym for safety reasons.)} https://zantimes.com/2025/10/30/where-else-can-we-go-as-refugees-return-afghanistans-housing-crisis-deepens/

Earlier reports:

Zan Times - Oct 22, 2025 - by Khadija Haidary
{Kabul reels after deadly airstrikes during the Taliban-Pakistan war
On Wednesday, October 15, Khalid left his home to work as a taxi driver. At around 3:15 p.m., the 25-year-old was heading toward Airport Road. Moments later, as he approached Taimani 5th street, a powerful blast tore through the busy street. His family only realized something was wrong around 5:30 p.m. “No one had heard from Khalid,” Khalid’s uncle says to Zan Times. “When I called his mother, she told me his phone was still on charge at home. He had gone out without it.” The family began searching hospitals near the scene of the explosions, but no one matching Khalid’s description had been brought in. Finally, at the site of the explosion near a building known as Lolo Tower, a traffic officer recognized Khalid’s car. The officer told them he had found Khalid’s body “with his abdomen ripped open.” That is when the family learned that he was dead. “Members of the Emirate had taken Khalid’s body to Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital,” his uncle says. “That’s where we found him. It was impossible to believe he was gone,” he explains, adding that Khalid’s mother broke down uncontrollably upon hearing the news. Khalid was unmarried and a graduate in economics. His father, a former employee of the Interior Ministry, was killed in a bombing in 2014. Now, a second explosion has shattered what remains of their family. “No one from the Taliban government has come to offer condolences,” the uncle added. The blast that killed Khalid was one of at least two deadly airstrikes that struck residential neighborhoods in Kabul, including areas in Taimani. Pakistani fighter jets carried out multiple strikes across Afghanistan that afternoon and evening, with the government claiming that they were targeting hideouts of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants. But on the ground, it was civilians who paid the price. According to the Emergency Hospital in Kabul, the attacks killed at least five people and wounded 40 others, including women and children. “I thought I had gone deaf,” says Marsal, a 21-year-old woman who witnessed the blast from her balcony. “A bright light flashed, then a deafening sound. When the smoke cleared, all we could see were torn bodies on the street.” The Taliban authorities initially denied the attacks, insisting that “a fuel tanker had exploded” at one site However, Pakistani media reported that the strikes targeted TTP fighters inside Kabul. Eyewitnesses said Taliban forces quickly sealed off those areas, preventing journalists and residents from approaching the sites. Another strike hit a residential building opposite the Abu Bakr Siddiq madrasa, also in Taimani, just as worshippers were gathered for the evening prayer. “The explosion was so strong that it threw the prayer rows into each other,” says Sameer, a 14-year-old student. “I was near the washroom when it happened. I was thrown on the ground and my head was bleeding, I thought the world had ended.” Homes and vehicles were destroyed in a wide area of Taimani. Nasir, 29, who suffered a leg injury, said his house was left “like a ruin.” “When I came back from the hospital, Taliban fighters had blocked the street,” he says. “No one from the government even asked how we were. People lost everything, but no one cares.” Similar scenes of destruction were reported in other parts of the city, as residents described glass shattered, doors blown apart, and walls collapsed. The airstrikes didn’t only target Kabul. Spin Boldak, along the border in Afghanistan, was also a site of heavy fighting. The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported at least 17 civilians killed and 346 wounded. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid later announced that 58 Pakistani soldiers had been killed in the border clashes. After days of escalating violence, Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire after the attacks on Kabul, as well as talks mediated by Qatar and Turkiye in Doha. Taliban’s Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob led the Kabul delegation, while Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif represented Islamabad. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced early Sunday that the two countries had “agreed to the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability.” Doha said follow-up meetings would be held “to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner.” In Islamabad, Asif said the ceasefire was conditional on the Taliban’s ability to prevent cross-border attacks. “Anything coming from Afghanistan will be a violation of this agreement,” he told reporters. “Everything hinges on this one clause.” The agreement came just days after Pakistan announced it would close all 54 Afghan refugee camps within its borders — part of its ongoing campaign to expel what it calls “illegal foreigners.” For Kabul residents like Khalid’s mother, the politics behind the attacks and counterattacks mean little. All she knows is that her son left for work and never came home.
Khadija Haidary is a Zan Times journalist and editor. Azad Barakzai and Hura Omar (pseudonyms) have contributed to this report. } Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/10/23/kabul-reels-after-deadly-airstrikes-during-the-taliban-pakistan-war/


Refugees on the brink to be expelled - Photo AP
Al Jazeera - Oct 22, 2025 - By Abid Hussain
{‘Illegal in own homes’: Afghan refugees caught in Pakistan-Taliban tensions
Islamabad, Pakistan – Allah Meer’s parents were among the millions of Afghans who fled their country after the then-Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979.
His family settled in a refugee village in Kohat in northwestern Pakistan. That’s where Meer, now 45, was born. Meer says that more than 200 members of his extended family made the journey from Afghanistan to Pakistan, which has been their home ever since. Over the past two years, as Pakistan has moved to send back hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees, the family has feared for its future, but managed to evade Islamabad’s dragnet. Last week, the threat of expulsion hit home: Pakistan announced it would close all 54 Afghan refugee villages across the country as part of the campaign it began in 2023 to push out what it calls “illegal foreigners”. These include the villages in Kohat, where Meer and his family live. “In my life, I visited Afghanistan only once, for two weeks in 2013. Apart from that, none of my family have ever gone back,” Meer told Al Jazeera. “How can I uproot everything when we were born here, lived here, married here, and buried our loved ones here?” Amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban, which returned to governing Afghanistan in 2021, families like Meer’s are caught in a vortex of uncertainty. Fighting erupted between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the border earlier in October, pushing already strained relations into open hostility. On Sunday, officials from both sides met in Qatar’s capital, Doha, and signed a ceasefire agreement, with the next round of talks scheduled in Istanbul on October 25. Yet, tensions remain high. And families like Meer’s fear that they could become diplomatic pawns in a border war between the neighbours.
From welcome to expulsion
Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As civil war gripped Afghanistan and the Taliban first rose to power in 1996, successive waves of Afghans fled across the border. After the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the September 11 attacks on the US, the Taliban’s fall prompted thousands of Afghans to return home. But their return was short-lived. The Taliban’s stunning comeback in August 2021 triggered yet another exodus, when another 600,000 to 800,000 Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan. However, as relations between Kabul and Islamabad soured during the past four years, Pakistan – which was once the Taliban’s principal patron  – accused Afghanistan of harbouring armed groups responsible for the cross-border attacks. The government’s stance hardened towards Afghan refugees, even those who have lived in the country for decades – like Meer. A father of 10, Meer earned a degree in education from a university in Peshawar, and now runs a vocational training project for Afghan refugee children backed by the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR. Since 2006, the UNHCR has issued what are known as Proof of Registration (PoR) cards to document Afghan citizens living in Pakistan. These cards have allowed them to stay in Pakistan legally, giving them some freedom of movement, although this is restricted, as well as access to some public services, including bank accounts. But from June 30 this year, the Pakistani government has stopped renewing PoR cards and has invalidated existing ones. “We all possess the UNHCR-issued Proof of Residence cards, but now, with this current drive, I don’t know what will happen,” Meer said. In 2017, Pakistan also started issuing Afghan Citizenship Cards (ACC) to undocumented Afghan nationals living in the country, giving them identification credentials to provide them with a temporary legal status.
But the ACC is not a protection against deportation any more.
According to the UNHCR, more than 1.5 million Afghans left Pakistan – voluntarily or forcibly – between the start of the campaign in 2023 and mid-October, 2025.
‘Illegal in our home’
About 1.2 million PoR cardholders, 737,000 ACC holders and 115,000 asylum seekers  remain in Pakistan, Qaiser Khan Afridi, the UNHCR’s spokesperson in Pakistan, told Al Jazeera. Pakistan’s tensions with the Taliban have added new precarity to their status. “For over 45 years, Pakistan has shown extraordinary generosity by hosting millions of Afghan refugees,” Afridi said. “But we are deeply concerned by the government’s decision to de-notify refugee villages all over Pakistan and to push for returns [to Afghanistan].” “Many of those affected have lived here for years, and now fear for their future. We urge that any return should be voluntary, gradual, and carried out with dignity and safety.” Meer, who has volunteered for the UNHCR over the years, said that seven refugee villages in Kohat alone house more than 100,000 people. He accused both Pakistan and Afghanistan of using the refugee issue as political leverage. “With the latest situation, our family elders have sat together to discuss options. We thought about sending some of our young men to Afghanistan to look for houses and means to do business, but the problem is, we have no connections there at all,” he said. With his PoR card now invalidated by the Pakistani government, he has no recognised identity card, making it hard for him to access even medical facilities when his children need treatment for any illness. “We are, for all practical purposes, considered illegal in a country that I and my children call home,” he said.
Caught between borders
Pakistan’s plan to expel Afghan residents began in late 2023, amid a rise in rebe attacks. Since then, violence has surged, with 2025 shaping up to be the most violent year in a decade. Pakistani authorities argue Afghan refugees pose a security risk, accusing the Taliban government of sheltering armed groups, a charge Kabul denies. Two years ago, Pakistan’s then interior minister, Sarfraz Bugti, alleged that 14 out of 24 suicide bombings in the country in 2023 were carried out by Afghan nationals. He did not provide any evidence to back his claim, and he did not clarify if the individuals were refugees living in Pakistan, or Afghan nationals who had crossed the porous border between the two countries. But Meer fears that Afghan refugees in Pakistan will be distrusted back in Afghanistan, too, given the climate of animosity between the neighbours. “We will be seen as Pakistanis, as enemies there, too,” he said. Afridi, the UNHCR spokesperson, urged Pakistan to reconsider its repatriation drive. “UNHCR calls on the government to apply measures to exempt Afghans with international protection needs from involuntary return,” he said. “Pakistan has a proud history of hospitality, and it’s important to continue that tradition at this critical time,” he said.} Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/10/22/pakistan-speeds-up-expulsion-of-afghan-refugees-amid-tensions-with-taliban


Sadaf Ahmadi
Jinhagency - Womens News Agency - Oct 22, 2025 - By Baharan Laheeb
{"It is not enough to dream of change — we must create it through struggle and faith."
Despite Taliban oppression, Sadaf Ahmadi turned pain into strength by founding secret classes, encouraging girls to learn, and using poetry and writing to share women's suffering with the world.
Kapisa– In recent years, Afghan women have faced severe restrictions on their rights to education, work, and social participation, due to laws and regulations that limited their freedom and weakened their presence in public life. These restrictions have negatively impacted their economic, cultural, and social conditions across the country. Despite these harsh challenges, many Afghan women continue to make tireless efforts to sustain their activities through alternative means — such as informal education, forming small support networks, engaging in cultural initiatives, and organizing community awareness programs. In this context, Sadaf Ahmadi, a young woman living among Afghanistan’s towering mountains, said, “I am one of the Afghan girls who suffer, living in one of the provinces under Taliban rule.” Her words summarize a painful reality experienced by thousands of women who, despite everything, still cling to hope and continue their struggle in silence. She recounted her experience after the Taliban’s return to power: “At that time, I was in the tenth grade. I saw how women were deprived of their most basic rights. I suffered severe psychological distress and wasn’t well for almost a year — until one day, I stood before the mirror and said to myself: You are a girl, and the Taliban do not bother you because you are weak. They are terrified by the possibility that we might rise and lead one day — that is the essence of their fear.” Speaking about the steps she took to rebuild her life, she said, “I decided to turn the Taliban’s nightmare into a different reality. I applied to enroll in an online school, even though I was still in the tenth grade. I went through a month-long exam period and passed successfully. Then, I gathered around 40 girls from my village and encouraged them to continue their education.” As for how she motivated the girls around her to face fear and engage in learning, she explained, “I used to tell them: If you are a girl, then the Taliban should fear you — not the other way around. They are human like us, but we are strong women and girls, and they are terrified of our strength. Let’s unite, abandon negative thoughts, and focus on what’s positive.”
With this belief, Sadaf Ahmadi began her educational class, dividing her teaching into two groups: one for girls who had dropped out of school, and another for illiterate women. She added, “I now have around 100 students — some learning for the first time, others returning to study. I was active in the online school for about a year, and we achieved great results. My students study with passion and great enthusiasm.” But this initiative did not go unchallenged. She said, “The Taliban interrogated my students several times because of the educational classes we established in the village. Even if it’s a religious school, they are suspicious. They visited my class multiple times and asked the participants: Do you teach English? Or science? In most parts of Afghanistan, especially in rural areas, women are forbidden to study. Only their own women and children are allowed to learn. So why should others be deprived? We told them it was just a religious school — and that’s how we were able to continue our education secretly.” Sadaf Ahmadi took serious steps to develop her reading and writing skills and described her moment of transformation: “I stood before the mirror again and said to myself: You have succeeded in inspiring a hundred girls. You gave them hope and revived dreams that were about to die out. Then I asked myself: What have you accomplished?” She continued, “I returned to my pen and my notebook — my only companions during the harsh winter nights and moments of deep despair. My spirit and mind drove me to write, so I turned to stories and poetry to express the suffering of Afghan women, girls, and mothers — to document their pain and carry their voices to the world. I have been writing poetry for about eight months now and continue my work with determination and diligence.” She concluded her message to Afghan women and girls with words filled with strength and determination: “Do not fear the Taliban. You are the foundation of society and the builders of the future. Without you, there is no community, no meaning to life, and no place for dreams. You are the true heartbeat of this nation. Do not settle for wishes — rise up, strive, and face challenges with all the determination you possess. On the path to success, you will encounter pain and setbacks, but in those moments of weakness, when you are burdened with wounds, you will remember those you love, think of your future, and realize that struggle is the only path to victory. It is not enough to dream of change; we must create it with our own hands — through struggle, patience, and faith that we are capable of breaking the chains and shaping a reality worthy of us.”} Video-Source: https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/it-is-not-enough-to-dream-of-change-we-must-create-it-through-struggle-and-faith-37795

Letters of an Afghan Woman
Zan Times - Oct 13, 2025 - by Khadija Haidary
{From Kabul to China: A Journey sparked by ‘Letters of an Afghan Woman’
Banu Mushtaq was an unknown writer from southern India when she  won the International Booker Prize in May 2025. Her short story collection, The Heart’s Lamp, illuminates the lives of women in southern India. In her acceptance speech she said, “No story is ordinary,” adding that even the tales of remote villages carry universal truths. Her words have stayed with me, making  me think of the narratives written by Afghan women. We often feel our voices go unheard or that no one cares about our stories. Yet, as Bano Mushtaq reminds us, once a story is written it no longer belongs to a distant place; in time, it will reach the world. Listening to the bitter stories of Afghan women requires a generous heart and deep patience, for their words are a continual refrain of suffering — a pain that seems endless because their hardships are unending. When a writer approaches these women, she carries not only the duties of a journalist but also the heavy responsibility of trust: to convey their pain-filled stories to the world in a way that reflects not only the sorrow but also the courage and resistance that define these women. Many women feel a sense of triumph when they hear their stories will be written, as if the act of being recorded completes the mission of their suffering. Some eagerly follow up, asking when their story will be published and how people have responded. Media that values Afghan women, listens to them, and provides a reliable platform is a vital resource, as are writers who travel to remote villages or hidden corners of cities to faithfully record these experiences. In September 2024, I met Chinese journalist Weiling Hong, who wanted to report on the life of a woman journalist working under Taliban rule. Together, we wrote Letters of an Afghan Woman, which included links to several narratives I had published for Zan Times. Within hours of its release in China, the article was viewed by hundreds of thousands of readers and focused new attention on the situation of Afghan women. Website data shows that many Chinese readers then visited Zan Times to read more of its stories. Soon after, a female editor from LIGHT Publishing in China emailed me, saying she had read my narratives on Zan Times and that they had touched her heart; she felt she understood the pain of Afghan women. She asked me to send more stories like those I had written so she could publish them as a standalone book for Chinese readers. I have been writing short stories since 2020 and have many unpublished works. I realized it was time to create a complete book. I chose 18 short stories centered on the suffering and hardships of Afghan women. Four had previously appeared as narratives or essays in Persian-language newspapers, while the remaining 14 were unpublished. After signing a contract, I sent the full manuscript to the publisher. After reading all the stories, my Chinese editor wrote that she found them deeply moving and could feel the pain behind every tale. My book, Letters of an Afghan Woman, was published in China on August 4, 2025, with an initial print run of 10,000 copies. When I wrote these stories, I never imagined a publisher would contact me with an offer to print them. Now that the book is out, I feel these narratives may stand as the only testament to the lives, resilience, and suffering of 18 Afghan women — women who have rarely been allowed to appear or shine in Afghan society. Since 2023, every story I have written for Zan Times has chronicled the immense hardships Afghan women endure because of political, geographic, traditional, and cultural forces. My first piece, written under a pseudonym, described how Kabul’s walls, once covered in vibrant art, had been plastered with grim slogans enforcing the hijab. Later, I wrote about secret home schools and about women seeking a way forward for themselves and their children. One young woman, formerly the director of a busy office, turned to work in the beauty industry after losing her job. After the Taliban shut her salon, she carried a bag of makeup and tools to clients, allowing her to financially support her ailing mother despite the risks. Zan Times has become a true place where women’s suffering is heard. These painful stories are not kept in solitude; I share them so others can understand the reality Afghan women face today. I still hear the voice of an elderly neighbour who was forced to migrate at the age of 75 for the sake of her grandchildren’s future. Speaking of her home, she said, “This house is like Mecca and Medina to me.” She had to abandon that sacred space, not knowing what new hardships awaited her frail body. Over the last three years, Zan Times itself has become an important archive of Afghan women’s narratives. Stories arrive daily; some remain unpublished because of security reasons. The website is now a trusted source for well-documented investigations and reports on the lives of Afghan women since August 2021. Many accounts come from courageous women who risked their lives, endured torture in places like Department 40, Pul-e-Charkhi, and Badam Bagh prisons, and later sent us their testimonies, asking that they be safeguarded and published. In a recent editorial meeting, we discussed creating a book drawn from these published narratives. Today, Afghan women are writing their own history with their own pens. It is a history meant to ensure that no girl will be denied an education or the right to tell her story in the future.
Khadija Haidary is a Zan Times journalist and editor.} Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/10/13/from-kabul-to-china-a-journey-sparked-by-letters-of-an-afghan-woman/

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