Women’s Rights

I have written previously about Women's Rights issues and feel compelled to do so again having read about Nadia Anjuman in the Sunday papers. Nadia was killed, apparently in domestic violence (her husband is accused of her murder.) She was a 25yr old poet and took part in a clandestine intellectual literature group under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Her murder was reputedly because by writing, she brought dishonour o­n her husband. Her first book of poems was published recently and she was writing her second. This poem speaks eloquently of the daily struggle that women suffer under oppressive and unjust systems of male dominance and hierarchy. I know that there is still injustice in the west, but at least nominally we have equality with all human beings. The whole thing has moved me to anger and to tears, so I want to remember Nadia here.

From Dark Flower:

There is no desire in me to open my mouth to sing
Whether I sing or I do not sing, I am condemned to be hated
What should I say about sweet things when I have bitterness in my mouth?
What should I say about this cruel blow to my mouth?

I am caged in this corner, full of melancholy and sorrow,
Thinking that I was born for no purpose and must keep my lips sealed
I know that it is spring and a time to rejoice
But my wings are closed and I cannot fly

I dream of the day when I open my cage,
When I put my head out and sing a Ghazal with joy
I am not weak like a willow that shakes in a breeze
I am an Afghan woman and must wail.

May Nadia Anjuman rest in peace and be able to use her voice for all eternity.

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One Response to Women’s Rights

  1. Pingback: Gender Equality | What’s the Story in Dalamory

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