Afghan and again

It is surprising that Hannah Wallace’s excellent article on the women of Afghanistan (“Afghan Women – how they became an afterthought,” June 17) makes no mention of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. This independent political/social organization of Afghan women, dedicated to fighting for human rights and social justice in Afghanistan, was established as far back as 1977.

After the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979, RAWA became directly involved in the war of resistance, not in alliance with the fundamentalists but advocating democracy and secularism. Since the Russian withdrawal, RAWA has opposed the fundamentalist Taliban’s atrocities against the people of Afghanistan in general, and their ultra-male and anti-woman policies in particular. So RAWA must view the forthcoming US retreat from Afghanistan and the almost inevitable return of the Taliban as a disaster.

RAWA, currently based in Pakistan, is working to establish an independent, free, democratic and secular Afghanistan, and deserves support.

NEVILLE TELLER Ramat Beit Shemesh