Los Angeles Times
Afghans explain Taliban regime
October 11, 2001
By Tipton Blish
LOS ANGELES -- It is one measure of how much the world
has changed that
American Muslims are being asked to explain their
religion, address
unanswerable questions about terrorist attacks and
predict the future of Afghanistan.
On Wednesday evening 100 students, teachers, activists
and other community members packed a classroom at Claremont
Graduate University to hear two Afghans talk about
Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban. One is a writer
and scholar. The other is an activist in women's rights.
Flouran Wali lives in San Diego and directs the human
rights clinic for Doctors of the World. Hekmat Sadat,
a Ph.D. Candidate, writes about Afghanistan for
afghanmagazine.com and the Afghan Mosaic.
Sadat is an expert on Pakistan's role in Afghanistan
and he cautioned about the United States' new reliance on
Pakistan as it pursues terrorists in Afghanistan.
"They played the same role in Afghanistan as the
Soviets did," Sadat said.
Pakistan, Sadat said, was instrumental in the
transition from the rebellion against the Soviets in
the 1980s to the fundamentalist Islamic regime
of the Taliban that took the capital Kabul.
The Pakistani government armed and trained the leaders
of the Taliban, Sadat said, and relying so heavily on
Pakistan now could give Pakistan a hand in whatever government
succeeds the Taliban.
Wednesday's talk was billed as "A Conversation on War,
Terrorism, Human Rights and Religion." It was organized
by professor Lourdes Arguelles, an education teacher
whowas once a scholar of CIA-trained Cuban exiles and
their roles in Cuba and Central America.
Majid Rahnema, an Iranian exile and visiting professor
at Pitzer College, spoke more generally about the response to
terrorism.
"Are we reacting well in front of what is happening?"
Rahnema asked. "I am really scared and I don't want to be scared."
Rahnema, like Sadat, recommended a much stronger
intervention by international organizations, such as the United
Nations.
The talk attracted area Muslims who have been invited
into schools and communities to talk about their religion,
distinguish its many forms and the fears they live with
when they are blamed for terrorism.
Hassan Gsibat, a Los Angeles County health worker in
Pomona, said the past month has been a tragedy and an
opportunity for the local Muslim community to turn outward.
Many in the audience spoke passionately about the
Taliban's treatment of women, particularly in response
to a film produced by the Feminist Majority Group.
"Enslaving half of a population is barbarism," one
audience member said.