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Afghan women's activist fights Taliban and self-doubt
Mahbouba Seraj is a rare dissenting voice in Afghanistan, but she has begun to doubt whether the world is listening when she speaks out against the Taliban government's abuses.
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In this picture taken on February 11, 2023, Afghan women's activist Mahbouba Seraj speaks during an interview with AFP in Kabul. (AFP/Wakil Kohsar)
M
ahbouba Seraj is a rare dissenting voice in Afghanistan, but the veteran activist has begun to doubt whether the world is listening when she speaks out against the Taliban government's abuses.
Risking retribution from her country's rulers, Seraj has argued tirelessly against the dramatic spike in restrictions on women's freedoms.
But, facing an international community which she said seems too apathetic to respond, she wonders whether there is any point to her struggle.
"I'm still trying to fight and I still want to find an answer for all of this," the 74-year-old told AFP, her gaze drifting to the window as she looked out at the mountains cradling her Kabul hometown.
"It's not that it's becoming more difficult -- it's becoming worthless. That's the little fight that I have with (myself)," she said, nervously pulling a lapis lazuli ring off and on her finger over and over.
Seraj has a role both rarified and agonising in Afghanistan, where she returned in 2003 after around a quarter century of self-imposed exile during the Soviet occupation, civil war, and first Taliban regime.
As the niece of former king Amanullah Khan and a high-profile elder stateswoman, she has skirted the Taliban government's clampdown on women activists since the group returned to power in August 2021.
