Letters to My Daughters (39 page)

Like my father before me, I am proud to say that I am known as an honest politician who is not afraid to speak out on difficult issues where needed. I have proven that I can deliver services and direct funds to those in need. Of course the people I represent are still among the world's poorest, and much work still needs to be done. But I know I have improved their lives by bringing roads, schools, jobs and mosques. Recently I championed the building of a series of women's mosques in some remote and very conservative villages. The mosques are a place to pray, and no man would deny his wife the chance to leave home for an hour a day to worship God. Sometimes it is the only opportunity these women have to get out of their homes. So the mosques I built will make other services accessible to women. In these centres of religion, women can now get advice on nutrition and hygiene or take literacy classes. Just one building like this can transform the dynamics of a poor village almost overnight.

Today, I am probably the best known of all the female politicians in Afghanistan and am extremely popular with the public, both men and women. The Afghan public now see me as a politician first and a woman second. This is something I am deeply proud of.

My supporters have suggested I run for president. I will not lie and say that the role of leading my nation is not something I would love to do. Of course I would. Name me a serious politician anywhere in the world who wouldn't want the top job if offered it. And I know it is a job I am capable of doing well. But in truth, I do not think the time is right. I don't think my country is ready to accept a woman in this role. Of course, I hope this will change one day. Until recently, no one thought a black man could be president of the United States but it happened. Other Islamic countries have had female heads of state. Megawati Sukarnoputri was president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004, Begum Khaleda Zia was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and in neighbouring Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was also prime minister and was on the verge of being elected president when she was killed. I think about my early political heroines, Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi. They are women who are remembered not for their gender but for their policies and their strength as leaders. And I know it could one day be possible in Afghanistan.

For far too long, politics in my country has been conducted at gunpoint. It has had more to do with who has got the most soldiers or the best tanks than with policy, plans or reforms for our future. This must change. But changes will take time. But while these changes germinate, take root and grow, so too will the economy. A stable Afghanistan will sprout opportunities for its people. Whether it is the farmer who can use better and safer roads to get to market, the budding entrepreneur building an import-export business or the hundreds of thousands of Afghans living abroad, many of them highly educated, the building blocks for a better future will begin to present themselves.

I don't wish to understate the challenges that lie ahead for my country. There are many problems to be overcome. Afghanistan is awash in corruption, flawed religious extremism and a river of money from the sea of opium poppies grown on our farmlands. But through the generations of suffering this land has endured, there is a strength and resolve in the people that has never been broken. I believe and pray that the time is approaching for all Afghans to put aside the past and look to the future. After so many years of war and oppression, we are left with virtually nothing. The only choice we have is to rebuild, and I believe that's what the majority of my countrymen and women genuinely want. They just need the framework to do it in. And they need a strong and decisive leadership to help turn a range of divided ideas and opinions about our nation into a cohesive whole. A leader who can bond our nation together and bring us success.

And if we can achieve that, my darling daughters, then perhaps some day your children's children will grow up free in a proud, successful, Islamic republic that has taken its rightful place in the developed world.

This is what I live for.

And it is what I know I will die for.

If this should happen, my darling daughters, then I want you to know that every word in this book was written for you. I want and need you, as well as all the boys and girls of Afghanistan, to understand and learn from my struggle. My dreams for this nation will live on in all of you.

And if the Taliban don't succeed in killing me? Well, Shuhra, maybe I will try to beat you to the post of first female president of Afghanistan. And maybe together we will form a new dynasty of powerful Islamic female leaders who bring good to the world.

I know as I write these final words my mother Bibi jan is definitely smiling in heaven.

A Historical Timeline
of Afghanistan

1919—Afghanistan regains independence after a third war against British forces trying to bring the country under their sphere of influence.

1933—Zahir Shah becomes king and Afghanistan remains a monarchy for the next four decades.

1973—Mohammed Dawoud seizes power in a coup and declares a republic.

1978—General Dawoud is overthrown and killed in a coup by the leftist People's Democratic Party.

1979—A power struggle between leftist leaders Hafizullah Amin and Nur Muhammad Taraki in Kabul is won by Amin. Revolts in the countryside continue and the Afghan army faces collapse. The Soviet Union finally sends in troops to help remove Amin, who is executed.

1980—Babrak Karmal, leader of the People's Democratic Party Parcham faction, is installed as ruler, backed by Soviet troops. But anti-regime resistance intensifies with various Mujahideen groups fighting Soviet forces. The United States, Pakistan, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia supply money and arms.

1985—Mujahideen come together in Pakistan to form an alliance against Soviet forces. Half the Afghan population is now estimated to be displaced by war, with many fleeing to neighbouring Iran or Pakistan.

1986—The United States begins supplying the Mujahideen with Stinger missiles, enabling them to shoot down Soviet helicopter gunships. Babrak Karmal is replaced by Najibullah as head of the Soviet-backed regime.

1988—Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, the United States and Pakistan sign peace accords and the Soviet Union begins pulling out troops.

1989—The last Soviet troops leave, but civil war continues as the Mujahideen push to overthrow Najibullah.

1991—The United States and the Soviet Union agree to end military aid to both sides.

1992—Resistance closes in on Kabul and Najibullah falls from power. Rival militias vie for influence.

1993—Mujahideen factions form a government with ethnic Tajik Burhanuddin Rabbani, who is proclaimed president.

1996—The Taliban seize control of Kabul and introduce a hard-line version of Islam. Rabbani flees to join the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

1997—The Taliban are recognized as the legitimate rulers by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Most other countries continue to regard Rabbani as head of state. The Taliban now control about two-thirds of the country.

2001—Ahmad Shah Massoud, a legendary guerrilla and leader of the main opposition to the Taliban, is killed, apparently by assassins posing as journalists.

2001 OCTOBER—The United States and Britain launch air strikes against Afghanistan after the Taliban refuse to hand over Osama bin Laden, held responsible for the September 11 attacks on America.

2001 DECEMBER 5—Afghan groups agree to a deal in Bonn forming an interim government.

2001 DECEMBER 7—The Taliban finally give up the last stronghold of Kandahar, but Mullah Omar remains at large.

2001 DECEMBER 22—Pashtun royalist Hamid Karzai is sworn in as the head of a thirty-member interim power-sharing government.

2002 APRIL—Former king Zahir Shah returns, but says he makes no claim to the throne.

2002 MAY—The UN Security Council extends the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force until December 2002. Allied forces continue their military campaign to find remnants of al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the southeast.

2002 JUNE—The
loya jirgas
,
or grand council, elects Hamid Karzai as interim head of state. Karzai picks members of his administration, which is to serve until 2004.

2003 AUGUST—NATO takes control of security in Kabul, its first-ever operational commitment outside Europe.

2004 JANUARY—The
loya jirgas
adopts a new constitution that provides for a strong presidency.

2004 OCTOBER–NOVEMBER—Presidential elections: Hamid Karzai is declared the winner, with 55 per cent of the vote. He is sworn in, amid tight security, in December.

2005 SEPTEMBER—The first parliamentary and provincial elections in more than thirty years are held.

2005 DECEMBER—The new parliament holds its inaugural session.

2006 OCTOBER—NATO assumes responsibility for security across the whole of Afghanistan, taking command in the east from a U.S.-led coalition force.

2008 NOVEMBER—Taliban militants reject an offer of peace talks from President Karzai, saying there can be no negotiations until foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

2009 OCTOBER—Hamid Karzai is declared winner of the August presidential election, after second-place opponent Abdullah Abdullah pulls out before the second round. Preliminary results had given Karzai 55 per cent of the vote, but so many ballots are found to be fraudulent that a run-off was called.

2009 NOVEMBER—Hamid Karzai is sworn in for a second term as president.

2010 JULY—A major international conference endorses President Karzai's timetable for control of security to be transferred from foreign to Afghan forces by 2014.

Acknowledgements

I WOULD LIKE to thank the following people:

My daughters, for their patience and the time they gave me during the writing.

Nadene, who has been extremely helpful in co-writing and narrating the book.

Elsa, who has been a great support in shaping the stories, managing the team and editing the book so many times and with patience.

My brother Ennayat, who spent his one week off travelling with Nadene and me to the remote mountainous area of Badakhshan to remind ourselves of childhood stories.

The security people in my district for providing required security to all of the team during the trip to our village.

Kaka Yatim, the brave driver who drove us on some of the most difficult roads in Afghanistan non-stop for two days and nights.

FAWZIA KOOFI IS a supporter of BEHZ Creations, which funds literacy projects in remote areas of Afghanistan. You can read more on
www.fawziakoofi.org
.