By Freshta Ghani
Women’s rights activist Tamana Zaryab Paryani was arrested by the Taliban in Kabul in January 2022, along with her sisters. Forced to flee Afghanistan for her safety, she has continued to protest from her new home in Germany. On September 1, she and a group of Afghan women put up a tent in the city of Cologne and started a hunger strike, which is now in its 11th day.
The protesters, as well as human rights activists, are demanding that the United Nations and international community recognize that the Taliban have created a system of gender apartheid. They also want the Taliban to release political prisoners, a foreign travel ban on Taliban leaders and for the world to suspend financial aid to the Taliban regime and a travel ban on Taliban leaders. (To date, there has been no official response to the hunger strike from the UN or foreign governments.)
“There is currently a regime of gender apartheid in Afghanistan and the world should recognize it as such,” Tamana Zaryab Paryani told Zan Times on the third day of her hunger strike. “I don’t know what should happen in Afghanistan for the world to open its eyes and say ‘Yes, there is gender apartheid in Afghanistan; something must be done about it.’ For this reason, we went on hunger strike. The other methods did not bore fruit and only the option of hunger strike was left to us.”
She added that 16 human rights activists, mostly women, have joined her, saying, “We want to be the voice of the people of Afghanistan, reiterate our demands, and stand firm until the last breath.”
One of those women is Ruqiya Saei, who had been arrested by the Taliban in Kabul for participating in demonstrations there. She felt she had no choice but to join the hunger strike though she has kidney and stomach problems and is the sole caretaker of her two children. “My condition worries my children,” she says, “They try to feed me, but I resist.” She’s determined to continue until the world listens to their demands: “We will not give up, we will continue the struggle.”
When days passed without any response from the UN or other leaders, Tamana Paryani stopped drinking water on the ninth day of the hunger strike, her sisters told Zan times. By 2:00 pm on Saturday, September 9, her health had deteriorated to the point that she was taken to the hospital. An hour later, Tamara Paryani left the hospital, returned to the sit-in tent and continued her hunger strike. “Tamana has breathing difficulties and the doctors have advised that she must end her hunger strike,” explains one of her sisters, Shafiqa Paryani.
The protesters are drawing attention to an increasingly grim situation inside Afghanistan, especially for women. On September 8, Human Rights Watch declared in a new report that the Taliban have committed a “crime against humanity,” as defined in international criminal law. In addition, the organization states that the Taliban have committed “persecution based on gender” in Afghanistan, which also violates international law. Because of these violations of fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch states that the regime should be investigated by the International Criminal Court.
Nayera Kohistani has also joined the hunger strike. She adds that although she is not in good health, she wants to continue because of her commitment to the women’s protest movement in Afghanistan: “Every time my family or friends insist that I should end my strike, I remember Tamana and feel strong about our cause.”
The human rights activist, who was also arrested by the Taliban after participating in protests in Kabul, tells Zan Times that the German hunger strike has sparked a new wave of protests against the Taliban and its policies. “The example that Tamana Paryani’s fight is gives us energy,” she says, adding that the actions of the last few days have given the women’s movement hope.
Since September 1, a large number of men and women have come to the tent to support Tamana Paryani and the other hunger strikers, with some also joining the action for a day or a night, says Shafiqa Paryani. Those supporters include women’s rights activists as well as other Afghan citizens, and also people from other countries who want to support their cause. One Iranian man was taken to hospital due to his deteriorating health.
“No matter where we are from, it is the human duty of everyone to stand up against the gender apartheid in Afghanistan,” explains Nizam Jalili, an Iranian citizen who has stayed in the tent with Tamana Paryani and others since the beginning of the hunger strike. “Struggling against the Taliban is not only the responsibility of the people of Afghanistan, and they did not create this situation. They haven’t brought this upon themselves.”
There are also signs that the German protest is spreading around the world, and into Afghanistan. On Sunday, September 10, a group of women in Takhar province in northern Afghanistan published a video in which they announced their support for the protest and hunger strike. And on September 6, Hoda Khamosh joined the hunger strike in her home city of Oslo, Norway.
Tamana Paryani and the other hunger strikers are determined to make the world focus on what the Taliban are doing in Afghanistan. On the 10th day of her hunger strike, she wrote on her Twitter page: “We will die, but we will not stop. We want action. Why is the world silent?”
