Arthur Greene
Zarifa Ghafari became one of Afghanistan’s first female mayors at the age of 26 – and her achievement almost cost the young woman her life.
She was forced to make a harrowing escape from her own country as the Taliban seized power, putting her job and her life under threat.
“The fall of Kabul on 15 August was the worst moment of my life,” she told the BBC in an interview.
She knew immediately what it meant for her and everyone else living in Afghanistan.
During the Taliban’s previous spell in power, from 1996-2001, women’s rights and freedoms were severely restricted.
Ghafari’s appointment as mayor of the town of Maidan Shar in 2018 came at a time when steady progress was being made to advance women’s rights.
As an outspoken voice for the country’s women, she feared that the Taliban would see her as a threat.
“My voice has the power that no guns have,” she said.
Her fears were confirmed when Taliban militants showed up at her home and beat up her security guard.
She arranged for a car to smuggle her and her family into Kabul. She hid in the footwell of the car and ducked her head each time they drove through a Taliban checkpoint.
“When we reached the airport gate, there were Taliban fighters everywhere,” she said.
The ambassador to Turkey helped get Ghafari and her family onto a flight to Istanbul and from there they flew to Germany.
She’ll now work with politicians and world leaders to shine an international spotlight on the lives of Afghans living under Taliban rule.
But she vows to return to Afghanistan one day.
“That’s my country – I made it. I struggled for years to make it,” she said.
She said she took a handful of sand with her when she fled.
“I would like to take it back to where it really belongs.”
Image source: @HiNagendraBandi
