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From tragedy to tragedy: The future of one beauty salon owner is destroyed by the Taliban
Saba Masih* authored this report for the Zan Times in Persian, and it was translated into English by Rustam Seerat.
Parisa* owns a beauty salon in the Shahr-e Naw-e region of Kabul. She overcame a brutal childhood in Lal Sar Jangal district in Ghor province, and worked hard to become a successful business owner. Now, the Taliban decree banning female beauty salons has thrown Parisa back to the poverty of her childhood.
Much of her childhood was scarred by her father, Mohammad Nabi*. He had worked in Iran for a while, but returned during the former president Hamid Karzai’s first tenure. Soon it became apparent that Mohammad Nabi was an opium addict. Parisa’s mother, Anahita*, frequently confronted her husband. Once, he stole 100 afghani that Anahita had earned by cleaning livestock pens for a neighbour. He even sold the family’s wheat to buy drugs. He wasn’t the only addict in their village of around 20 homes — at least 10 or 12 residents were grappling with addiction. Still, as his wife, Anahita bore the brunt of the community’s pointed fingers. Neighbours often admonished her: “Anahita, many women in the village share your plight with husbands lost to addiction. Persevere, and raise your…
