They have been called Maoists, spies for the Soviet Union, for Pakistan and now the US.
They work undercover, breaking the hardline rules of Afghanistan's Taliban militia and angering religious conservatives with their liberal politics in Pakistan.
PHOTO: AP
But the aptly-named Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) says they are just trying to improve the plight of women in what is seen as the most repressive patriarchal society in the world.
One of the few political Afghan women's groups, the organization claims 2,000 members, mostly among the huge Afghan refugee community in Pakistan.
Its aggressive media campaign has reached worldwide audiences through the Internet and evoked the sympathies of Western feminists, particularly in Washington and also in Hollywood.
But RAWA has little support among Afghan refugees here in the northwestern Pakistani border city of Peshawar.
"It's their leftist activities and ideology -- our people have suffered too much under leftists," said Khorshid Noori, head of the Afghan Women's Network.
"We respect their opinions and they are intelligent, open-minded individuals, but people are bitter and allergic to any leftist thought."
With only a handful of women's voices contributing to the debate over Afghanistan's post-Taliban future, RAWA's is one of the loudest, and they are not afraid to make their point in a strident, uncompromising language which some see as alien to Afghan culture.
Few are spared RAWA's wrath, from the Taliban to the armed anti-Taliban opposition and even other women's groups.
Salima, 33, a RAWA member who teaches girls at the Khaiwa refugee camp near here, was unapologetic.
"We do not compromise our beliefs like other groups do," said Salima, who, like other RAWA members, gave only her first name. "We encourage the spirit of debate and we encourage independence. This is what gives us our strength."
Shakiba, who works in the organization's publication committee, was equally unrepentant.
"We believe it's our responsibility to expose corrupt leaders, including women's groups," the 24-year-old said.
The Taliban have sworn to kill any RAWA members they find in Afghanistan.
Yet RAWA still claims to run 100 girls schools, income-generating projects such as sewing and carpet weaving, literacy schemes and political courses on women's rights in the deeply impoverished country.
In relatively liberal Pakistan, RAWA operates a school and clinic in Khaiwa refugee camp and a few other schools in Peshawar and Islamabad. Yet even here, due to fear of Islamic "fundamentalists" and pro-Taliban extremists, RAWA members use pseudonyms and travel with bodyguards.
"The fundamentalists are agai-nst women. They do not count women as human beings. We have won the respect of men and women by making a lot of sacrifices," said Salima.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS