Anupama B.N.1 & Payel Dutta Chowdhury2
1Associate Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.ORCID: 0000-0003-3540-6396, Email: anupama.bn@manipal.edu
2Professor & Director, School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, REVA University, Bengaluru, India.ORCID: 0000-0002-2999-0533, Email: payeldutta.c@gmail.com
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 4, December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n4.26
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Abstract:
The status of Afghan women has been a subject of academic interest primarily because of the strict patriarchal hegemony that they have been subjected to. Afghanistan has seen enormous changes in the last four decades due to multiple invasions, wars, and terrorism. 15th August 2021 marks a significant transition in the Afghan socio-political scenario with the Afghan government collapsing as Taliban took over Kabul. The Taliban’s initial public statements after seizing power included assurances on allowing women their rights within the framework of Shari’a Law. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the actual status of Afghan women’s legal rights and security concerns at present after the completion of one year of the Taliban take-over. The study delves into an exploration of the changing dynamics of women’s status in real-life vis-à-vis such portrayals in select literary texts by Khaled Hosseini and Atiq Rahimi to understand how their narrative spaces mirror the socio-political conflicts in Afghanistan. Drawing upon Gender Studies and discourses concerning masculinity and femininity, particularly studies conducted on women and violence, and the UN Women’s reports on gender alert published in December 2021 and August 2022, this paper aims to explore the fictional space in relation to the real-life scenario in Afghanistan.
Keywords: Afghan women, Taliban, Legal Rights, Security, UN Women’s reports