Whats up, 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 ladies within the society. This motivation began after I was solely 14 years outdated; I had a buddy named Mahtab, whose title means moon in English. She was a younger woman who wished to review and be a helpful particular person in society.
However her father stated: “You’re a woman, you don’t have the proper to training, you need to solely get married and reproduce.” Mahtab’s childhood and goals grew to become a sufferer of pressured marriage. After getting married, Mahtab obtained 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 buddy 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 all the time wrote poems about girls. Since childhood, I’ve been very considering 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 numerous feminine and male artists.
The works have been all painted over when the Taliban took over the nation simply over a yr in the past
Picture: Sadaf Danish
Defending girls’s rights
My aim was to color on the partitions of the town and defend the rights of ladies. We held a giant exhibition in Kunduz and displayed 300 work about girls’s rights, peace and struggle [March 2021]. Our actions have 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 particular person 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 hearth. All of the folks have 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 need the world to listen to her needs. At present in Afghanistan, no woman has the proper to review 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 proper to progress in life or not?
• This letter was initially revealed in The Artwork Newspaper‘s September concern, 2022
