ARTE (Franco-German TV Network) recently aired a Reportage called “A Female Mayor in Afghanistan”. As ill-intended as it is, it is also informative to some extent and thought provoking. Following are a few comments:
Regarding the mayor:
- The fact that she is not bending to the required and demanded norms of the society and in a way challenging them is admirable. How one dresses is a very personal thing but in certain cases, it matters because it makes a change and requires a lot of courage no matter what the gender of the person.
- The idea of selling insecurity as braveness is absurd, insecurity comes with the job, it is a “fact”. When she asks the question “Who is going to build the country”? It gives the feeling that she is doing a favour by doing her job. As a matter of fact, she is neither the one building the country neither is she ding anybody a favour. If one has a job in Afghanistan one does it for the salary, prestige, out of love or just for the sake of it. No matter what the reason, nobody owes one anything when one is doing their job.
- The fact that she has to or she tries to convince others that she is also part of the society is useless and ineffective. She does not have to prove it, of course, unless she does not believe it herself.
In relevance to the Taliban:
- The fact that those Taliban believe that they stand for the people, for the country, for prosperity, for building roads, for education and for women rights is extremely ludicrous and absurd.
- The reason that Taliban believe that and could say so without hesitation is the failure of the “democratic” governments. That failure is not partial, it is not in one sector it is a failure from all aspects. Not only have they failed the people, but they have also failed the country, the system, the process, the human dignity and humanity.
- It reminds one of one thing, which actually is scary, is the fact that people still do not disagree with them on the principles but on the interpretations of religion. No matter what, we will always end up arguing about that with no obvious solution but the dominance of the narrative which goes against all basic human rights.
Overall Impression:
- The Government trying to win the hearts of the people with superficial condolences, corruption and incompetence is absurd, it will never work against the Taliban who are trying to and are succeeding to win the hearts of people with providing them with a basic sense of security, their version of rule-of-law and a religious narrative. It comes at the cost of basic human rights but again many do not believe in those anyway.
- It is also not surprising how the documentary portrays the Taliban as harmless and as significant as the Government itself, it is strengthening the recent narrative of Trump Administration.
Musa Aziz's Ramblings 
