We have previously commented on the grave mistake of allowing Islamic law into the new Afghanistan Constitution (see Taliban Lite and Faith in Politics).
An overly optimistic CNN report from yesterday further indicated the problem:
A low point of the [constitutional] convention occurred when the chairman of the convention, Sibghatullah Mujaddedi -- who is considered a moderate -- reportedly told women delegates, "Don't try to put yourself on a level with men. Even God has not given you equal rights, because under his decision two women are counted as equal to one man." (Mujaddedi was referring to a contested provision of Islamic law that says that the testimony of two women is equivalent to that of one man in some cases.)
And despite President Bush's recent praise of the new Constitution for "providing fundamental rights to women," let's not forget this BBC report. Just days after the adoption of the new Constitution, the Afghanistan Supreme Court reacted to a woman singing on TV:
"We are opposed to women singing and dancing as a whole," Judge Manawi told Reuters. "This is totally against the decisions of the Supreme Court and it has to be stopped."
Apparently Lady Liberty is not welcome in the new Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Posted by Forkum at January 22, 2004 07:30 AM
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