Shukria Barakzai - Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Carbon Caryatid (talk | contribs) at 20:27, 24 May 2009 (more sources). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 20:27, 24 May 2009 by Carbon Caryatid (talk | contribs) (more sources)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; try the Find link tool for suggestions. (February 2009)

Shukria Barakzai is an Afghani MP, journalist and entrepreneur, and a prominent Muslim feminist.

She was born in 1972 in Kabul. (She remembers her mother being able to walk the streets of Kabul wearing a miniskirt. She speaks both main Afghani languages, Pashto and Dari, as well as English. Barakzai went to Kabul University in the 1990s. Half way through a degree, she had to break off her studies because of mounting violence between the government and the Mujahideen. In 1999, following a beating by the religious police for the crime of leaving the house without her husband, she set up an underground school in her home. She resumed her education right after the Taliban were driven out of Kabul in late 2001 following the American-led invasion, and gained a degree in archaeology and geology.

In 2002 she founded Aina-E-Zan (Women’s Mirror), a national weekly newspaper. Her mission was to "improve the understanding and knowledge of Afghan women in society”. She began the publication without any resources, lacking even a computer and access to a printing press, hoping to encourage women to fight for their own rights, and to build a strong democracy and civil society. She campaigns on issues such as maternal and infant mortality, areas in which Afghanistan has great difficulty. She focuses on large issues, saying, "in my opinion the burka is not that important. What is important is education, democracy and freedom." She stresses unity among women as well as the role that men have to play. She credits technology such as mobile phones, banned under the Taliban regime, with helping young Afghans integrate with the modern world. For example, using text messaging to vote for a participant in a television talent show contest demonstrates how democratic voting can work.

She was appointed a member of the Loya Jirga, a body of representatives from all over Afghanistan that was nominated to discuss and pass the constitution after the fall of the Taliban. In the October 2004 elections she was elected as a member of parliament, one of 71 women out of MPs.

World Press Review (Worldpress.org) named Barakzai International Editor of the Year in 2004. In December 2005, she was named Woman of the Year by the BBC Radio 4 programme Woman's Hour.

She is one of only a handful of female MPs who speak up for women's rights, and faces death threats for her views. She defended Malalai Joya and reported that some parliamentarians threatened to rape her. Her criticisms of the legislature are wide-ranging: "Our parliament is a collection of lords. Warlords, drug lords, crime lords." She opposes U.S. President Obama's troop build-up plan, asking for "30, 000 scholars or engineers" instead. She intends to stand for President of Afghanistan in 2014.

Barkzai is married to Abdul Ghafoor Dawi, who stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at the same time as her. In 2004, 12 years into they were wed, he took a second wife, as is his right within Muslim marriage law. He did this without telling Barakzai, and she admits to feeling "disturbed and hurt" and "a victim of tradition" because of his decision. They have three daughters.

External links

Worldpress list of resources: speeches, photos, interview
Jenni Murray interviews Barakzai on Woman's Hour

References and footnotes

Categories:

See also

External links

References and footnotes