Fighting Injustice by Poem

The fall of Taliban regime brought her and her family from abroad back to Afghanistan, hoping to live peacefully in the land where they belong. She inhabits Herat where she became a member of several literary associations from the ninth grade and joined the Faculty of Persian Literature at Herat University after graduation from school and passing the university entrance exam.

Yakta Ahmadi, a young poet, said that when she and her family decided to live in Afghanistan, she never imagined facing difficulties because of her gender in her fatherland. 

She added that living in Afghanistan and struggling against all hardships made her fearless, and independent. She does not regret returning to Afghanistan. 

Ms. Ahmadi said that she has done a lot for women’s rights protection. She has tried to recount women’s problems and defend their rights in every possible means, including poetry. “Women’s conditions in Afghanistan encouraged me to put efforts for equal rights for men and women and raise awareness among women who are not aware of their rights. Though not significant, I have always tried to defend women’s rights through civic activities and poetry,” said Ms. Ahmadi. 

It is years since she has remigrated to another country from Afghanistan for the second time. Reckoning her challenges as a poetess, she said that her poems have often faced criticism of being outspoken and uncensored coverage of women’s issues. Nonetheless, she never allowed her poems to be censored. She believes that women’s poetry should reflect her real experience. According to her when men write about their experiences, they are never criticized. Women’s writings, on the other hand, are always censored. “I have never accepted censorship of my own poems. I am glad to be one of the first women in Herat to have written uncensored poems, read it before thousands of persons, and even published them.” Said Ms. Ahmadi. 

When asked about women’s problems reflected in her writings, she said that women have many problems that even she was confused about which one to write first. However, according to her, the main problem in Afghanistan is being a woman in itself and every other problem originates from that. As a feminist, men’s and women’s inequality for education, before the law, economic opportunities, and politics are unacceptable for me. Women are always treated as second sex and are deprived of their basic rights.  

Ms. Ahmadi said that given the problems of women and the poor security conditions in Afghanistan, returning to the homeland is impossible for her. “The decision of returning to a place where my most basic rights are ignored is tragic because I might be one of those girls who are killed while studying.” She said. 

Disappointed with improvements in women’s conditions in the country, she said that there has been no significant change and progress in Afghan women’s conditions in the last two decades. She believes that the achievement of mentioning the name of the citizen’s mother in the ID card is not the result of a balanced feminist movement, rather through the sincere efforts of a limited number of women. 

When asked about peace negotiations and their consequences on women’s rights, she expressed her disappointment by saying that the Taliban’s view of women is obvious for all. She added that with the success of the peace agreement, the Taliban’s dark era will be repeated once again which is not acceptable for any Afghan woman. 

She believes that preserving women’s achievements and providing a conducive environment for women’s educational, social, and political activities should be the priority of the government. “Women’s most important demand is that men and women are both treated equally before the law,” she said.