Howdy, I’m Sadaf Danish, an artist from Afghanistan. Greater than a yr has handed because the destruction of my goals. I studied arduous in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, in order that I may increase the function of girls within the society. This motivation began after I was solely 14 years outdated; I had a good friend named Mahtab, whose title means moon in English. She was a younger lady who wished to check and be a helpful individual in society.
However her father mentioned: “You’re a lady, you don’t have the best to schooling, you must solely get married and reproduce.” Mahtab’s childhood and goals grew to become a sufferer of pressured marriage. After getting married, Mahtab received pregnant on the age of 15. Her husband tortured her and at last killed her. I used to be shocked and really scared when my good friend was killed. However Mahtab’s husband was not punished. I’ll always remember that cruelty.
I promised myself that I’ll fulfil the needs of Mahtab. Throughout faculty, I at all times wrote poems about girls. Since childhood, I’ve been very inquisitive about artwork, and generally I used to color in class, however nobody cared about portray. After ending faculty in Kunduz, I created an artwork group in Kunduz province and recruited various feminine and male artists.
Defending girls’s rights
My objective was to color on the partitions of the town and defend the rights of girls. We held an enormous exhibition in Kunduz and displayed 300 work about girls’s rights, peace and warfare [March 2021]. Our actions had been revealed in respected media in Afghanistan and even appeared within the worldwide media. At the moment, Kunduz was surrounded by the Taliban from 4 sides, however I continued my actions with all my braveness. I had develop into precisely what Mahtab wished: a helpful individual in society. I used to be a human rights activist, a civil society activist, head of an artwork group and I used to be even invited on to prestigious TV reveals in Afghanistan, and acquired greater than 50 letters of appreciation. I used to be very comfortable.
However my happiness didn’t final lengthy. Taliban took the town of Kunduz, which burnt in the course of fireplace. All of the individuals had been working away. My household despatched me to Iran to avoid wasting my life. The fifteenth August 2021 was a day the Taliban painted Kabul black, like a portray. I couldn’t make Mehtab’s needs come true, however I would like the world to listen to her needs. At present in Afghanistan, no lady has the best to check and I don’t know what would be the destiny of women in my nation, I don’t know if I can return to my nation once more—do I’ve the best to progress in life or not?
• This letter was initially revealed in The Artwork Newspaper‘s September situation, 2022