WASHINGTON: “The film portrays the realities of the US-Taliban talks in Doha, shedding light on how Afghan women were consistently sidelined and ignored throughout the process,” says Horia Mosadiq who saw Sharp Edge of Peace in London.

The feature-length documentary follows the women members of the Afghan government team as they navigate a shared political structure with the Afghan Taliban during the talks held in Doha, Qatar, in 2020.

“Women like us, who resided in Afghanistan, were unjustly labeled warmongers simply because we opposed unconditional surrender,” said Ms Mosadiq, who is now the director of a London-based NGO, Conflict Analysis Network (CAN). It’s a specialised research network focused on conflict and human rights.

“Efforts were made to isolate us diplomatically by instructing other embassies not to engage with us, falsely portraying us as members of an exclusive elite group that doesn’t represent Afghan women,” she added.

Sharp Edge of Peace premiers at Canadian documentary festival

Ms Mosadiq believes “ignoring women always leads to disastrous consequences” like the “rise of a gender-apartheid Taliban regime”.

Like her, the majority of educated Afghans believe that the agreement reached between the Americans and the Afghan Taliban led to a sharp-edged peace that harmed all, as depicted in the film. Afghan women were left in the clutches of a gender apartheid regime, and the nation was once again pushed into darkness.

“Sharp Edge of Peace,” produced and directed by Roya Sadat and her team, portrays the endeavours of four remarkable women leaders — Fatima Gailani, Fawzia Koofi, Habiba Sarabi, and Sharifa Zurmati.

Together, they courageously engage with the Afghan Taliban in Doha, advocating for the recognition of women’s humanity.

“The Taliban displayed minimal interest in women’s arguments, largely due to their awareness of the imminent American withdrawal,” explained Ms Mosadiq. “As anticipated by the Taliban, the Americans indeed packed up and departed.”

She contends that the Americans mistakenly believed they had bestowed upon Afghan women the rights they deserved, and in their rush to withdraw, inflicted “irreparable damage on Afghan women, their rights, and their ongoing struggles”.

The documentary illustrates how Afghan women steadfastly refused to compromise their hard-fought gains for equality in exchange for a hastily brokered peace agreement. It contends that Afghan wars have transcended national boundaries for generations, and the Doha negotiations were no exception, with numerous stakeholders each pursuing their own agendas.

In this complex tapestry of interests, attaining peace necessitates the involvement of all parties at the negotiation table.

The film commences with a powerful scene portraying Ms Koofi, a former parliamentarian and advocate for women’s rights, courageously recovering in a hospital bed following an assassination attempt in August 2020. She remains committed to advocating for Afghan women’s rights and has established the Afghan Women Coalition for Change with the aim of making gender apartheid an internationally recognized crime against humanity.

Ms Gailani, now chair of Afgha­nistan Future Thought Forum, said the Afghan negotiating team never expected US soldiers or Nato to stay forever and hoped for a smoother transition and political settlement.

Ms Sarabi, another negotiator, highlighted the resilience of Afghan women.

The 95-minute film had its premier at the Canadian film festival on April 27.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024