Word: kabul
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...anyone doubts the ardor of grass-roots support for the anti-American militancy in southern Afghanistan, Kandahar's cemetery for al-Qaeda fighters bears unequivocal testimony. Hundreds of mourners have descended on the graveyard from as far away as Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul and Uruzgan province. What began as daily homages have grown into all-night vigils. Men, women and children sleep by the graves. Devotees recite the Koran throughout the night. The paralyzed, ill and blind flock to the site seeking miracle cures, which many claim to receive. Men mumble, repeating scripture until they fall into a trance, swaying...
...countryside and in conservative cities like Kandahar. In 1919, the first Afghani king encouraged women to shed the head to toe garb by revealing the face of his wife in public. Many women in the more liberal cities obliged and by the 1980s less than half the women in Kabul, the capital, wore the burka. Under the Taliban, women had little choice: wear the robe in public or face a vicious beating. But Afghan women say this was more inconvenience than hardship. "Under the Taliban women weren't allowed to leave their houses, weren't allowed to work...
...least, prefer to remain anonymous in public. A few rely on begging to get by and so prefer to go incognito. Others simply say they are used to the burka and feel uncomfortable going without it. "I feel safer wearing the burka," says Qasida, 26, an engineering student at Kabul University. "There are places you go where men look at you; it's just easier to be covered." When the Taliban forced Qasida to stop attending classes she continued her studies at the home of one of her female teachers, smuggling books through the streets hidden under her burka...
...government is encouraging but not forcing women to be rid of the things and women working in offices are asked to wear headscarves rather than cover their face completely. Most rural men believe women should be fully covered but many men in the larger cities share the sentiments of Kabul traffic cop Ghalaam Azart: "It's part of our culture and tradition for women to wear one but the decision lies with them. I cannot demand...
...Many Kabul women said they planned to start going burka-less from the Afghan New Year, which was celebrated last week. Nasrin Qasim Zai, who works in Kabul University's student registry says many of her friends are waiting for other women to lead the way. She pulls her light blue-colored burka back to reveal dark lipstick, gold earrings and faux leopard skin high heels. "Women will discard the burka only gradually as the security improves," she says, as she waits with friends for the bus home after work. "The important difference now is that we have a choice...