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American Morning

Afghan Women Savor Freedom in Kabul

Aired November 16, 2001 - 09:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the Taliban loses more territory in Afghanistan, women across the country appear to be gaining more freedoms.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour is witnessing the changes in the newly liberated Afghan capital of Kabul. The big question is: Are Afghan women really free now? Let's go to Christiane, this morning, for her insights. Hi, Christiane, what have you noticed?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, a complete difference. There's certainly a visual difference, when you walk on the streets of Kabul, now, you can see women who have a lighter step, and who are even beginning to take off the veil. We have to be clear about the fact that the veil, to some Afghan women, is a matter of tradition and a matter of personal choice. So they won't be taking it off, but so many Afghan women, who before the Taliban used to walk around in western-style clothes, unveiled through choice were then forced to wear the veil. And it wasn't just about wearing the veil, they were banned from all walks of public life. The most draconian rules were imposed on them. And now, they say, they are savoring their new liberty, at least here in the capital, Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): A Kabul city bus pulls up to reveal a rare sight. A woman, her face uncovered, her voice raised.

"We have no bread, no home, nothing. But we're happy. We're happy the Taliban's gone," she says.

And for the women of Afghanistan, that means everything. It means they can try to reclaim the rights the Taliban took away from them.

(on camera): For five years, the religious police, known as the Department of the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue issued a series of edicts against women, banning them from wearing makeup, from wearing high heels, from making a noise on the street when they walked, banning them from work, from education, from sitting next to men on buses or in cars.

(voice-over): The men, too, were adjusting to the new reality. Just look at this huge crowd gathered around our van. (on camera): When I asked all these people why they were crowding around our vehicle, they said it was because they hadn't seen a woman for six years.

(voice-over): The only place the Taliban had grudgingly allowed women to work was in hospitals. Inside the walls, they take off their burkas, they wear makeup and they work along side male doctors. In just a few days, they say, the atmosphere has completely changed with the promise of a better life ahead. Not just for them, but for their male colleagues, too. They joke about trimming their beards and dressing like professionals again.

Dr. Malang (ph) is head of general surgery here, and fro the first time in years, he's removed the baggy pants that all men were forced to wear.

"Two months ago, I guessed something would happen in Kabul" he says, "something would change, and so I had this suit made for myself."

The female hospital staff are now hoping for a more normal life, for professional women to get back to work again, and to be able to educate their daughters again.

"This was my biggest concern," says this Nadirah (ph) "what to do with my daughter. We had to go to Pakistan to educate our children. We hope now that with a good government and with proper security in our country, we can get education for all our children again."

Aziz is a teacher who told us the Taliban's ban on girls schools affected the whole society. Boys suffered, too, because most of the teachers are women. They show us a school that had taught girls for 30 years before the Taliban took Kabul, and they say the city's new authorities have announced that girl's education will resume after the long winter break.

AZIZ, TEACHER: It's not against Islam, and it not against the community. The girls, they are part of our community. They have to share with us in everything, and they have the right to get education.

AMANPOUR: So much of this capital city, like so much of the country, needs rehabilitating, after more than 20 years of war. But as they reflect on the past, many of the people we spoke to say they thank America for give them a chance for a new beginning.

"Everybody is happy about the military action," says Bashir. "It helped people find new freedom."

But there are some whose hope is still tinged with fear, fear that they may not have seen the last of the Taliban.

"I'm still wearing the burka," says this woman, "because the situation isn't 100 percent clear. I wear it because I'm scared, because no one has yet announced that I can take it off."

(END VIDEOTAPE) (on camera): Now with every day that goes by, the women are getting more and more comfortable and more and more secure. We heard a wonderful anecdote about one woman who went back to work the day Kabul fell. It was a radio broadcaster who had been banned from working for five years. She went into the radio station, we're told, she tossed her burka off, across the room, and got back behind the microphone to broadcast, Paula.

ZAHN: Wow, Jack Cafferty and I were talking about seeing the faces of these women who obviously haven't seen sunlight for so long. It's extraordinary to watch. There is a critical meeting coming up in Brussels, where the role of Afghan women will be discussed, and -- and although there's no expectation they play key role in any sort of transitional government or a government that comes after that. What do Afghan women tell you? Do they -- do they ever think they will have a political voice?

AMANPOUR: Yes, they do, because in the years before the Taliban, some 40 percent of the -- certainly the women of Kabul made up not only the professional forces here, but also the civil service and even -- even some governmental positions in various ministries and various departments here. So they fully expect -- at least the women of Kabul who are somewhat different from the women in other parts of Afghanistan because this -- this is the most sophisticated, professional, urbanized center of Afghanistan -- certainly here in Kabul they are expecting to be able to get back to the kinds of professions that they had before. But it's also important to note that many of the women who were able to and who couldn't stand the repression of the Taliban and who could afford to leave, have left Afghanistan. And it -- we're waiting to see whether these women now feel that they're able to come back with their families and to start a new life here again.

ZAHN: Well, Christian, your report was just terrific. I think it's the first opportunity many of us have had to see the more personal impact of this story. And you could read it on the faces of every single person you interviewed. Thank you very much.

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