Menggapai Negeri Atap Dunia

“Tempat ini demikian tingginya, hingga burung pun tak mampu terbang ke sana,” demikian Marco
Polo melukiskan barisan pegunungan ini. Kabut menyelimuti taburan kemah putih bundar suku nomaden.

Lenguhan keras yak bertanduk raksasa menggemakan keangkuhan gunung padas. Sungai deras mengalir, padang hijau membentang, danau biru kelam menyemburatkan misteri, rintik salju
mengguyur perlahan. Anak-anak bermain bola ditelan awan. Sunyi. Damai. Mistis.

Inilah musim panas di Pamir, atap dunia di ujung paling terpencil negeri Afghan, pada ketinggian 4.300 meter.

Di sini salju bisa turun kapan saja. Sepanjang musim, sepanjang tahun. Manakala ibukota Kabul terbakar oleh mentari bulan Juli, saya di Pamir harus meringkuk di tepi perapian, menghirup segarnya susu yak bersama potongan daging kambing rebus sebesar lengan.

Yang tinggal di alam yang tak bersahabat ini adalah bangsa Kirghiz, bangsa minoritas di Afghanistan, yang masih mempraktikkan cara hidup nomaden yang hampir punah di penjuru mana
pun di muka bumi ini. Kaum prianya adalah penunggang kuda yang jempolan. Kaum perempuannya berpakaian merah menyala, lengkap dengan lusinan kalung, gelang, dan pernak-pernik yang berat. Yang masih gadis bertudung merah. Yang sudah menikah berkerudung putih, seperti salju yang menangkupi puncakpuncak gunung raksasa yang menjulang
di sekeliling.

Mereka hidup dalam roda waktunya sendiri, terkurung isolasi pegunungan raksasa dan garis perbatasan yang tak tertembus. Dusun terdekat Afghanistan harus ditempuh melalui perjalanan
menyeramkan berhari-hari dengan berkuda, melintasi lekukan tebing curam di tepi jurang menganga, menyusuri lintasan kuno Jalan Sutra yang pernah menjadi denyut nadi
peradaban dunia berabad silam.

Tajikistan, Pakistan, dan Cina, ada di balik gunung-gunung raksasa itu, menyimpan mimpi kehidupan yang melintas di putaran zaman berbeda. Keterasingan Pamirlah yang membuat
aliran zaman terhenti. Musim demi musim, tahun demi tahun, abad demi abad. Dalam dunia orang-orang Kirghiz ini hanya ada padang rumput, salju, kemah, kuda, yak, dan domba.Di sini
uang tak dikenal. Perdagangan masih dilakukan dengan sistem barter dengan kambing sebagai satuan hitungan. Semua orang tak kenal huruf. Bocah-bocah kecil hanya bermain keledai dan kuda sepanjang hari. Gembala tergolek tak berdaya di sudut kemah, larut dalam
kenikmatan asap candu. Para istri tak pernah lepas dari rutinitas memerah susu, memasak, dan mencuci.

“Pamir kami adalah tempat yang keras,” kata Khan Abdul Rashid Khan, sang “raja” suku Kirghiz di Pamir Kecil, “Hidup kami hanya bergantung pada kekuasaan alam. Tetapi inilah vatan – kampung halaman kami. Hati kami tertambat di sini. Biarpun kami tahu di
balik gunung-gunung itu ada kota yang makmur, jalan raya yang mulus, ladang gandum yang subur, ilmu pengetahuan dan peradaban, tetapi tak pernah terbersit keinginan kami
untuk meninggalkan dunia kami, surga kami.”

Di tengah kungkungan gunung-gunung raksasa, masih terus merambat kehidupan kuno dengan pengembaraan tanpa akhir.

http://www.exposure-magz.com/

“Gender Corridor Afghanistan” is the publication of Gender Equality Project of UNDP Afghanistan.

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Armed men loyal to brutal Afghan warlords set up checkpoints and take what they want – including helpless young girls. Women are often raped before being given or sold to whoever desires a bride. Some who survive and escape can no longer live with their ordeal. They douse themselves in gasoline and set themselves ablaze.

“Who can say ‘no’ to a war commander?” asks Naseera Shafi, 26, the Regional Office Coordinator for UNDP’s Afghanistan New Beginnings Programme (ANBP) in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

“They have guns and power. They do whatever they want. When they see a beautiful girl, they may kidnap her and force her to marry …. It’s not uncommon for a young girl to marry an old man under these conditions,” Naseera says.

The ANBP aims to create new opportunities for peace and security in the war-torn country by focusing on the disbandment of illegal armed groups. These bandits challenge the nation’s security, leaving ordinary Afghans to grapple with instability and making the vast majority of Afghan women prisoners of an oppressive social environment.

Some violations carried out by these brutal men include extorting illegal taxes, maintaining illegal checkpoints, and smuggling, says Mohammad Shafi Rahimi, Regional Manager of the UNDP programme in Mazar. Targeting women is the most notorious pastime, however. When given the chance, they force young girls to marry members of their group. The women are forbidden from expressing themselves, going to school, and praying in mosques, he says.

Naseera is enraged by the continuing practices by illegal armed groups to kidnap, rape, and force young Afghan girls into marriage. Such cases sometimes end with self-immolation and death. These issues brought Naseera to ANBP with hopes of laying a foundation for a new beginning for her homeland. She decided to work with the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups, an ANBP project that involves prevailing upon war commanders to give up their weaponry and begin a new way of life.

War commanders aren’t the type of people women want to be associated with. “Which woman isn’t afraid of them? Which woman likes to deal with guns, explosions and criminals?” she says.

Naseera looks back on her childhood, a time marked by fear and worry. “At the time, (young girls) were afraid of everything related to war commanders.” Over time, Naseera grew to despise the sounds gunfire and explosions.

While Naseera is well-aware of the fact that the field she works in is usually reserved for men, it doesn’t mean women are helpless to create peace in Afghanistan. “Women are more likely to create peace,” says Naseera. “I am sure no mother wishes her son to become a war commander. Only certain circumstances that happened in our country have forced some people to take this particular path.”

Wives can appeal to husbands to give up weapons and start a new life. Naseera says that in spite of the popular belief that war commanders refuse to listen to others – especially the government – they may listen to their wives. She believes it is the perfect role for women to undertake in order to create peace.

The ANBP project was created in April 2003 to assist the Government of Afghanistan in implementing Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). It is funded by Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

DDR was deemed to have been successfully completed in June 2006 and ANBP is now involved in two security-related projects: the Anti Personnel Mines and Ammunition Stockpile Destruction Project and the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups.

ANBP holds educational programmes for women during religious gatherings at the Mausoleum of Hazrat Ali in Mazar every Wednesday afternoon throughout the first month following the Afghan New Year of Naoruz. At this time, thousands of female worshippers from all over the region come to receive blessings. Naseera and another female colleague distribute hundreds of messages promoting disarmament and interview women visitors.

The lack of security has pushed Afghan women deeper into their sanctuaries. When a young girl leaves her home to get an education, she risks being kidnapped by local warlords. As if that’s not enough, she may also fall victim to unknown gunmen who surround the area. Many parents who worry over the safety of their daughters simply forbid them to step out of their homes.

“It’s vital to educate the women so they can think critically for the wellbeing of their own families” says Naseera. “When women are educated, they can contribute more to the making of peace in their community. In my opinion, education is more important for girls than boys because girls, or mothers to be, will have the biggest responsibility in guaranteeing the quality of life of their children.”

Recent data show only one out of five women in Afghanistan is literate; because most families refuse to let female members attend school. However, education must be a priority, she says. Schooling creates awareness, and awareness leads to the restoration of peace. The two are inseparable.

“I want to see a new beginning for Afghanistan,” says Naseera, “a peaceful homeland with rigorous development. All children go to school. There’s no fire, no lethal weapon. The nightmares of my childhood are no longer repeated, and are nothing more than a footnote in history books.”

Naseera is more certain today than ever before that “the dream” is near.

My photos from Badakhshan and some other parts of Afghanistan are used in the posters for publications of Gender Equality Project of UNDP Afghanistan. These posters are designed by Inis Thailand.

This article is published by a Catholic magazine on 27 July 2008.

This article is published by Cosmopolitan Men Magazine for June - November 2008 edition.