Al Jazara
روایت خاورمیانه 
On a hot summer day, August 15, 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul and transformed the lives of millions. Shallah, a 16-year-old girl, ran to the yard with tears in her eyes as soon as she heard the news of Afghanistan's fall to tell her mother that their country had fallen into the hands of the Taliban.
Her younger sister, Fatima, 11, was at her cousin's house when her aunt broke the news to her. At that time, she did not understand what domination meant and who the Taliban were. In contrast, her older sister, Mahin, 22, was well aware of the consequences of this event and still remembers the trembling of her hands while reading the news on her phone.
Life in the Shadow of Restrictions
Now, Shallah, Fatima, and Mahin are part of hundreds of thousands of Afghan women and girls who have returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan over the past year and have become accustomed to living under harsh conditions and severe restrictions. While these three sisters once lived in a time full of hope and dreams, they now face the bitter reality that their basic human rights have been seriously violated.
Shallah says, "We have returned to a country that no longer has a place for us. We can no longer go to school, we cannot make our own decisions, and we cannot even leave the house without being monitored." Fatima, as a young girl, sees her dreams in a dark and hopeless world where access to education has become a dream.
An Uncertain Future
Mahin knows well that the Taliban will one day need women's education. She says, "We must fight for our future. A day will come when they will need us, and we must be ready." These three sisters represent hundreds of thousands of other women in Afghanistan who now live in the shadow of fear and despair, and their voices go unheard.
It cannot be simply overlooked that the future of Afghan women is in the hands of those who not only do not respect their rights but are also seeking to erase any signs of their independence and freedom. A future that remains shrouded in uncertainty, and no one knows what will happen to these girls.
