Afghanistan-Save Afghan Women's Human Rights Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Today, where is her poise
where is her pride?
where is her self-esteem
where is her self-respect?
where is her self-image
where is her self-worth?
when will they stop the abuse and the injustice
that is conferred upon her so forcibly?

With no one to rescue her
with no hopes in her heart,
even if she shouts, no ears hear her;
no tears to cry, her eyes are all dry
with hatred and helplessness in these times.

Her tomorrow is become worthless and grim
as one by one has been picked like a chair
and mistreatment is cast upon her to bear;
her dreams have merged with dust,
will her dignity ever get resumed
or will she perish without any identification? .

yes, they are helpless sisters and daughters,
they can do nothing except accept their fate
each one has to forget she is a daughter,
each one has to forget she is a sister
each one is made to forget her home
and whether they approve it or not
they are compelled to accept what they do not want.

And though being a woman
is such a big jewel in a family
so valuable and respected as a girl and a future
yet she is treated now with no respect
and forced to be a wife of a stranger.

And though woman are forced
to cover herself from head to toe,
it is their supreme imperative and their rule
which they want every woman to follow,
yet the maltreatment to them is so unbelievable
as marriages to any men they have to accept
without any choice or restraint.

And even if fathers and brothers unite
to defend their daughters and sisters,
their efforts and struggles fail
to save their daughter and sisters
as bullets and violence defeats the tussle
and as those fathers and brothers fight back
they even die in order to preserve the honor
of their daughters and sisters.

And as those men who go down fighting
to save the morality of their sisters, daughters and wives
they want to abide by the commitments and obligations
they hold to their womenfolk
as no mercy dawns in those hearts of terror
which reveres no dignity nor compassion.