RE: RAWA's appeal to the UN and World community ag ainst Northern Alliance

["Brownson, Jamil" <JBrownson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

While I am a supporter of RAWA, and accept their accusations of violent and
discriminatory past behaviour against various members of the Northern
alliance, I do not completely share the quite generic/blanket condemnation,
which seems intended to influence a broad spectrum of public opinion.

This is a new inning in an old ball game, and I have no predictions as to
the outcome of either inning or game.

But consider that the actual individuals and groups within this alliance are
constantly morphing, as are all alliances among all Afghani groups, be they
tribal, ethnic, ideological, regional, political, or other forms of social
organization, affinity, & affiliation.

Moreover, they are now in a global spotlight.

So too, local customs change more from internal social transformations than
form any national or regional trend, albeit surfaces may adapt more quickly.

Will the rights and opportunities for females improve in general after the
Taliban demise? Yes. But what direction that will take is an unknown. Which
regional direction will emerge as dominant, Pakistan's neo-conservative mode
that is more Taliban-like (remember the Taliban were Pakistani in origin and
Saudi in influence? Or will the post-soviet more relaxed Central Asian forms
make inroads? Or the Turkish model, which parallels more closely the Central
Asian model with dramatic surface yet lingering dominant substrata of values
and behaviour. Current media-cafe talk in Turkey buzzes over Kemal Darvish's
statement that there are no women in Cabinet & too few in Majlis
(legislature). Responses from MHP (nationalist right)& islamist deputies
were negative and suggested that is is fine to not have female
representation in government.

Or take the case of Iran where militant, activist & intellectual females
take strong social roles in affecting change while voluntarily clinging to
their chadour (covering).

Northern Alliance includes marxists & capitalists & islamists, as well as
great social and ethnic diversity, albeit largely from smaller minority
groups. Even if ethnic Pushtun were 40%, which I doubt, that is still not a
majority.

In conclusion, beware of overly simplistic generalizations.



-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Brown [mailto:CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 8:19 AM
To: <; pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [PEN-L:19638] RAWA's appeal to the UN and World community
against Northern Alliance


RAWA's appeal to the UN and World community  against Northern Alliance

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)



   The people of Afghanistan do not accept domination of the Northern
Alliance!

    Now it is confirmed that the Taliban have left Kabul and the Northern
    Alliance has entered the city.

    The world should understand that the Northern Alliance is composed of
some
    bands who did show their real criminal and inhuman nature when they were

    ruling Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996.

    The retreat of the terrorist Taliban from Kabul is a positive
development,
    but entering of the rapist and looter NA in the city is nothing but a
    dreadful and shocking news for about 2 million residents of Kabul whose
    wounds of the years 1992-96 have not healed yet.

    Thousands of people who fled Kabul during the past two months were
saying
    that they feared coming to power of the NA in Kabul much more than being

    scared by the US bombing.

    The Taliban and Al-Qaeda will be eliminated, but the existence of the NA
as
    a military force would shatter the joyful dream of the majority for an
    Afghanistan free from the odious chains of barbaric Taliban. The NA will

    horribly intensify the ethnic and religious conflicts and will
    never refrain to fan the fire of another brutal and endless civil war
    in order to retain in power. The terrible news of looting and
    inhuman massacre of the captured Taliban or their foreign accomplices
    in Mazar-e-Sharif in past few days speaks for itself.

    Though the NA has learned how to pose sometimes before the West as
    "democratic" and even supporter of women's rights, but in fact they
    have not at all changed, as a leopard cannot change its spots.

    RAWA has already documented heinous crimes of the NA. Time is running
out.
    RAWA on its own part appeals to the UN and world community as a whole
    to pay urgent and considerable heed to the recent developments in our
    ill-fated Afghanistan before it is too late.

    We would like to emphatically ask the UN to send its effective
    peace-keeping force into the country before the NA can repeat
    the unforgettable crimes they committed in the said years.

    The UN should withdraw its recognition to the so-called Islamic
government
    headed by Rabbani and help the establishment of a broad-based government

    based on the democratic values.

    RAWA's call stems from the aspirations of the vast majority of the
    people of Afghanistan.


    Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
    November 13, 2001