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Taliban

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These basic rights are granted to every human in the United States by the constitution. In the 21st century, we as Americans take these basic rights for granted because we are free to pursue anything we wish for in life. We are given the opportunity to live our lives in a free society, with limited restrictions on how we conduct of lives. However, this is not the case for all the people outside of our country. The Women of Afghanistan were stripped of their basic human rights when the Taliban seized control of their country. (“Revocation of Rights”). A practice of gender apartheid was instituted against the women of Afghanistan whereby the life of women had basically no value and they were forced to live in a society in which a violation of the simplest day to day activities we take for granted could lead to death. Under the Taliban’s rule, a women life was worthless. In today’s world, no one ever thought people could be treated this way. The story of the Woman of Afghanistan opened the eyes of not only the United States, but the entire world to ensure as best as possible, that human rights of all people be protected.

Afghanistan has always been a country in turmoil. During the 1980’s, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Afghanistan. With aid from the United States, militia forces called the Mujahedeen, or soldiers of god, forced the Soviets out of Afghanistan. However, soon thereafter, there was tremendous internal fighting and a number of groups were fighting for power. A group of young men and boys of Afghan descent emerged from this fighting as a powerful group. This group did not live in afghan society. They were raised in refugee camps and trained in ultra conservative religious schools mainly in Pakistan. This group became known as the Taliban and once in power they vowed to restore order and enforce strict Islamic law in Afghanistan. (“The Taliban and Afghan Woman”). However, no one in mankind could have...