The performance of a state or particularly a government can be gauged by the services, facilities and opportunities that it provides to its people. If it fails to provide the necessary requirements of life, equitable opportunities and security, its performance and legitimacy is always controversial. Only the governments that are able to ensure good governance to its people, can establish real legitimacy and can expect its people to have trust and confidence in it. There are cases when the people, who do not get what they deserve as citizens of a country, are left with negative sentiments for the government and even the country certain times.
The case of Afghanistan can be best studied in the same perspective. As instability and wars have reigned the country for several decades and the governments have not been able to perform well as far as the providence of basic requirements are concerned, the people have lost confidence on the government and do not feel sure if their lives are guaranteed in Afghanistan. Therefore, Afghanistan has been one of the countries with highest number of people who have migrated out for better and more secure lives.
It is also imperative to note that the people who have migrated from the country do not include only the poor and helpless people, rather there have been many among them who were not economically very weak but feared that their lives were threatened by the prevailing insecurity and the discriminatory or extremist attitude of certain people. It is the reason that there were many people from media and even security institutions themselves who left the country for their security. This is the irony in Afghan society that the security personnel who should guarantee the security of the people as a whole, feel threatened as well. And, it is also justifiable as they are the ones who become the targets of the terrorists the most.
There have been many instances wherein Afghan personnel visited other countries for training and development but never returned to Afghanistan. Finding the developed countries which they visited far better in security arrangements and life standards, they took refuge there and now live more peaceful lives. It would be wrong to blame them individually for escaping their responsibilities in the country; rather the situation has to be seen in perspective of the overall situation. The security, governance and many social issues make the decision of returning for them a very difficult one. Particularly, if the individuals are women, they would think thousand times before they return because they are the ones who do not only suffer from instability and war but also discriminatory behavior of the society as a whole.
Recently, the news surfaced that Nilofar Rahmani, an Afghan pilot who won an international bravery award for women in 2015, and went to the Unites States for training has said she is not ready to return home. According to the New York Times she is not willing to return home due to the deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan. According to U.S media reports Rahmani applied this summer for asylum. Rahmani said she does not feel comfortable or secure working in Afghanistan and her male colleagues treat her badly and insult her. Rahmani was supposed to return home after 15 months of training last week but she has said to her trainers she still wants to be a pilot but not for Afghanistan and instead wants to fly for the U.S air force.
This is really tragic and shows how a female, awarded bravery award, feels about the situation in the country. Though there have been complaints by the Afghan Air Force members about their salaries and working conditions several times, the complaints by female member would be doubled as should would have faced discriminatory behavior by the male colleagues who would not feel comfortable to accept that women can take such a role.
Unfortunately, Afghan society has a history of discriminatory behavior towards women and it can be easily observed that even now the incidents violating women rights have not been stopped though there have been many claims of developments. In fact the changes are prevalent only on the exterior while from within the Afghan society still lacks the modernity and development it needs in order to reach to a respectable position.
The Afghan social structure has been vehemently dominated by religious extremism and tribal nepotism. Women have been intensely influenced by these factors. Most of the self-designed religious doctrines and tribal norms are against the women and discriminate their basic rights. In accordance to parochial tribal norms and extremist religious beliefs women are not meant to get education. Their duties are bound to be inside the boundaries of their houses, which they do not have the right to leave in any condition except after the permission of an authoritative male member.
It is unfortunate to note that Afghan authorities and many important personalities themselves have favored the recommendations and suggestions to limit the participation of women in social and political lives. It is really important that government must discourage the discriminatory ideas against the women. And it the same time it must make efforts to ensure better governance and security to all the people of Afghanistan so that people start having confidence in their country.