The Afghanistan Women’s Freedom Lantern Movement, in a statement marking the Persian New Year, says that true spring will be the day when no girl is left in tears behind closed school doors and no woman is confined to her home simply for being a woman.
The movement said today (Monday, March 23) in its statement that although the doors of schools and universities remain closed to girls and women, the flames of knowledge in their hearts will never be extinguished. The statement reads: “With lanterns in our hands, in the alleys and byways of this Yalda night, we search for the path to freedom.”
The movement added that Nowruz arrives at a time when women and girls in Afghanistan are deprived of their most basic human rights the right to education, the right to work, and the right to breathe in a free environment.
The statement further notes that celebrating Nowruz is a preservation of Afghanistan’s cultural identity, one that shakes the foundations of misogynists and those who oppose culture. Members of the Freedom Lantern Movement emphasize that by keeping this tradition alive, they reaffirm the cultural richness of Afghanistan.
The movement also stated that in the current year, it will strengthen its ranks and remain a strong voice for women who have never surrendered under pressure and restrictions.
The Afghanistan Women’s Freedom Lantern Movement has also called on the international community and human rights organizations to stand in solidarity with Afghan women’s struggle for justice in the year ahead.
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