Sometimes, a truth so inconceivable in its existence during the 21st century, like women’s rights under Taliban, is overlooked by mass-media and only revealed in a book: Silent Heroes, When Love and Values Are Worth Fighting for.
My dream was to write a fictional story true to the lives of those caught in the War in Afghanistan: civilians and soldiers, Afghan populace and the Taliban. Reveal secrets, if need be. Thus, Silent Heroes was born.
Taliban, the spiritual weapon of the Afghan Nation
Afghanistan is a country nick-named as “unconquerable” and “the graveyard of empires”. It was a valuable location along the Silk Road and throughout centuries the Afghan land was used as a pawn between various dynasties and empires: of Alexander the Great, Muslim Arabs, the Mongols, the British quite a few times, then the Soviet Union. The Mujahedeen forces successfully opposed the Soviet troops through guerrilla tactics and in 1996 the Taliban government finally established its totalitarian Islamic State, The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Taliban ruled through terror and extremism and it could only be removed from power by the use of armed forces by the United States armed forces and their allies.
Women executed by Taliban for teaching girls to read – inconceivable in the 21st century
‘Afghan women live in constant fear and nine out of then are victims of domestic abuse. Warlords still thrive and power is gained through violence and intimidation and, in some parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban is still seen as a protector of the populace. A populace who has one too any empires’ gravestones in their backyard. As soon as your military forces will withdraw from Afghanistan, and one day they will, this country will revert to the lawless, conflict-ridden landscape that it was in the eighties, after the Soviet occupation, and the U.S. Nation-Building will join the other empires’ tombstones.’
Silent Heroes
But the Taliban still thrives, partially because the Afghan populace has seen one too many empires taking over their land under the pretense of protection and progress – only to take advantage of their resources, mainly poppy production, and then leave. So they lost faith in any foreign power, no matter the promises it made.
‘The Taliban has executed Afghans who dared vote in the Presidential elections of 2004. People in my village were scared that they won’t stay alive for much longer if they went to vote because the Talibans were searching everyone’s voter registration cards.’
Silent Heroes
Yet Afghanistan had known times of peace, prosperous times, when education boomed and women could study at university taking subjects that were considered extravagant, such as communism, feminism, and capitalism, taught by foreign-educated scholars.
That was once upon a time. Now, the extremist Taliban take advantage of the village men away at war and hold public executions, killing any woman who dares teach young girls to read using only an old, tattered book, hidden in her tiny kitchen.
It is all part of the unknown, harsh reality of the 21st century. Taliban executes women who dare teach young girls to read under the false pretext of breaking a law of the Islamic Religion.
As an authoress, I am the resultant force of the books I read. As a woman, I am the resultant force of the women who influenced my life – my mother, my grandmothers, my daughter, my girl friends, my female role models. As a human being, I am one of the forces shaping my children’s future; albeit a tiny one, I can point forward and upwards.
Scientia potetia est.
Amazon Review: “Oh, how I loved and admired Emma Dil and her brother Ratik. Their bravery tugged my heartstring and reminded me that for some children a world of conflict is the norm. The actions of the resilient villagers remained with me long after I turned the last page.
An atmospheric novel that oozes tension, sadness and a little glimmer of hope for humanity.”
You can BUY Silent Heroes from Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Australia, Amazon Canada, or Amazon Worldwide: link here to your preferred Amazon website.
After the mysterious underground fortress, the lacunae in the military chain of command and a diabolic secret lair, there is one more secret to be revealed in this series of 5 Secrets in Silent Heroes.
Have I saved the best for last?
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State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny, a Review, #StateOfTerror