Women's Conflict In Kabul

The story of these two women began in the time of conflict in Kabul. In the summer of 1973, King Zahir Shah was overthrown by a coup after ruling Kabul for almost 40 years. This was replaced by a soviet regime. This caused a war between the soviets and the Mujahideen which are Islamic guerilla fighters who attached non-Muslim forces; this was the group Laila’s two brothers had joined. Although, in 1978, Akbar Khyber, the leader of a faction of PDPA was assassinated which led to the rule of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The United States played a big part in being able to achieve this. Since then, women were able to enjoy an amount of Freedom but it wasn’t until 1992 when the Mujahideen took over. They threw away decrees that empowered

He tried to compromise with the Mujahideen in 1992 but it did not happen. Najibullah surrendered and Afghanistan was renamed as “The Islamic State of Afghanistan”. This was deeply enjoyed by the mother of Laila causing her to finally come out of bed. She felt as if her sons’ death were given justice. Although, like said, Kabul’s state just worsened. The death of Laila’s parents were caused by the conflict between the Sayyaf and the Hazaras. Pashtun military men were attacked and civilians were hurt—just like Laila and her parents. Abdul Dostum was someone who opposed the government of Najibullah and was allied with the opposition team. Although, in 1994 he went against his colleagues and allied with Hekmatyar. When they were able to take over a several places in Afghanistan, like Kabul, they did many violent things. This triggered Rasheed’s violence towards Laila and Mariam since he was always home. Soon enough, the Taliban were able to steal cities from the Mujahideen. Rasheed believed these men would bring peace and order to Afghanistan. In 1996, the Taliban were able to take over the capital,

Reading this book would require cultural understanding, the reader must have read this book through a cultural lens. To have women star in this novel was an edge by Khaled Hosseini because it gave a direct understanding to the oppression women had to face culturally and societally. It could be simply said that during the Taliban rule, women were oppressed but because of the story, as a reader, I was able to understand the depth of the oppression more. I saw it through Laila every time she visited Aziza, I saw it through Mariam every time she tried to please Rasheed. This was accepted in their culture. Through the feminist ideas, we see that women and are men are not slightly different but are completely different. Civil rights, rules and cultural norms were definitely not made for their favor. I saw the transition from the Democratic rule where Laila was able to study and Mariam was able to freely buy from the market to the socialist and military rule where women were denied access to most of these simple things. The direct relationship of the political aspect to the culture of Afghanistan was embodied in how women were treated. We see that through different and various leaders, the system varies. During a democratic rule, with the help of the United States, women were empowered. They were seen as equals to men. Although many went against this, the reason for the takeover of the Muhajideens. The