A Thousand Splendid Suns

Introduction

It is true that many countries in the world are known for chauvinistic practices and Afghanistan is one among them. Khalid Hosseini, in his work, A Thousand Splendid Suns, portrays with gripping words to underscore the chauvinism against women therein. To quote, “ Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman”1 The worst of the cruelty practiced is very much justified using religious dogmas as a political thought. The violence is quite remarkable under the Taliban theocracy where politics and religion have a common victim that unfortunately, is a woman!

This is the story of two Afghan women separated by a generation but brought together under circumstances so unimaginable that their survival

It is from this, Hosseini chooses a very apt title – A Thousand Splendid Suns, Where the detriments of some establish a light of hope and faith in others to justify their reason to live.

The political history of Afghanistan has a reciprocal connection with the rights of women in the society. At the turn of the century, Afghanistan enjoyed political harmony under its own indigenous King Amanullah3 that replicated the civil liberties of the Afghan women who at that time were more free and individualistic. However, as the Russian invasion came in, Afghan society took a left turn towards communism. At this juncture, women rights were also affected and became impassionate and more socialistic.

However, into the late 1980s, the Mujahideen inspired by the Islamic philosophy, were able to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan creating a society that infringed on women rights. Nonetheless, the most radical turn taken by Afghan society was the rise of the Taliban in the late 1990s. The Taliban who are inspired by the most fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic theology used religion as their coercive weapon to rule society. As a result, the rights of Afghan women took the worst