Fatema was a young pretty girl with a beautiful smile. She was a distant relative and one of my dearest friends, someone I was really close to. In her eyes you could see her big heart full of love for her country and people. She was a feminist and didn’t want to get married.
She graduated from Darol Malemin in 2008 and wanted to study law, but because her father had died when she was a small girl she instead took a job as a schoolteacher to support her mother and brothers. A few months ago, Fatema got the opportunity to study law at night at Kateb University. She was so happy! She had fought many hardships and was finally doing what she had wanted to do for years. Everywhere I was hearing stories of her hardworking and powerful personality, of her kindness and interest in helping others.
But now, instead of all those wonderful stories, I am hearing from her neighbors and even her uncle:
“They did a great job. What does it mean when a girl goes to university at night?”
“Maybe she wasn’t really a good girl. There must have been something, otherwise they wouldn’t do it.”
“She knew the situation in Afghanistan. She should not have taken a night-time class.”
“It’s her fault; she should have been more careful.”
But here is what I think! Fatema was killed just because she was a girl. She was killed just because she was a girl who wanted to study, who was thirsty for knowledge. She was killed because she wanted a different life, with freedom for our sisters, daughters, and even brothers.
We don’t know who killed her. Maybe it was relatives. Maybe it was an extremist group who kills girls who study because they think that women who get an education are going against Islamic roles.
Studying was Fatema’s only crime, and how easily they punished her. You want to study, no problem, but you will die. It is not important how: they will kill you with a knife or they will beat you until you die or they will kill you with just one shot. This is how some of my people punish you when you violate their beliefs, even if their beliefs are absolutely wrong. Fatema was not the only girl whom they punished. After her, they killed Naiema, who was also going to university, for the same reason. This is worst thing that a human can do: kill someone only because of her gender. I feel so terrible when I think about Fatema’s death.
Some time ago, I was reading the blog of a friend who works with Independent Human Rights of Afghanistan when I saw the headline: “Corpses of women found on Activism Against Gender Violence Day!” But I closed the webpage and forgot those women. Now that I do not have Fatema with me any more, I think that those women probably had friends like me who were very close to their hearts, and now those friends have my sad feelings. I forgot those women with just a click, but I can never forget my Fatema. Now that I really miss her I am angry with myself for forgetting those women.
We don’t know who is going to be killed next, but we won’t stop. We will carry on for Fatema, to change this for our daughters. We prefer to die rather than live like a death.
When Fatema wanted to talk about freedom for women, she always quoted from a poem by Ganbar Ali Tabesh: “Freedom is not a beauty spot above her lip, freedom is to allow her warm heart to fly.” And this is why she was killed.
By Masooma
She graduated from Darol Malemin in 2008 and wanted to study law, but because her father had died when she was a small girl she instead took a job as a schoolteacher to support her mother and brothers. A few months ago, Fatema got the opportunity to study law at night at Kateb University. She was so happy! She had fought many hardships and was finally doing what she had wanted to do for years. Everywhere I was hearing stories of her hardworking and powerful personality, of her kindness and interest in helping others.
But now, instead of all those wonderful stories, I am hearing from her neighbors and even her uncle:
“They did a great job. What does it mean when a girl goes to university at night?”
“Maybe she wasn’t really a good girl. There must have been something, otherwise they wouldn’t do it.”
“She knew the situation in Afghanistan. She should not have taken a night-time class.”
“It’s her fault; she should have been more careful.”
But here is what I think! Fatema was killed just because she was a girl. She was killed just because she was a girl who wanted to study, who was thirsty for knowledge. She was killed because she wanted a different life, with freedom for our sisters, daughters, and even brothers.
We don’t know who killed her. Maybe it was relatives. Maybe it was an extremist group who kills girls who study because they think that women who get an education are going against Islamic roles.
Studying was Fatema’s only crime, and how easily they punished her. You want to study, no problem, but you will die. It is not important how: they will kill you with a knife or they will beat you until you die or they will kill you with just one shot. This is how some of my people punish you when you violate their beliefs, even if their beliefs are absolutely wrong. Fatema was not the only girl whom they punished. After her, they killed Naiema, who was also going to university, for the same reason. This is worst thing that a human can do: kill someone only because of her gender. I feel so terrible when I think about Fatema’s death.
Some time ago, I was reading the blog of a friend who works with Independent Human Rights of Afghanistan when I saw the headline: “Corpses of women found on Activism Against Gender Violence Day!” But I closed the webpage and forgot those women. Now that I do not have Fatema with me any more, I think that those women probably had friends like me who were very close to their hearts, and now those friends have my sad feelings. I forgot those women with just a click, but I can never forget my Fatema. Now that I really miss her I am angry with myself for forgetting those women.
We don’t know who is going to be killed next, but we won’t stop. We will carry on for Fatema, to change this for our daughters. We prefer to die rather than live like a death.
When Fatema wanted to talk about freedom for women, she always quoted from a poem by Ganbar Ali Tabesh: “Freedom is not a beauty spot above her lip, freedom is to allow her warm heart to fly.” And this is why she was killed.
By Masooma