The 18 year old mutilated Afghan girl of the Time magazine cover fame has arrived in Los Angeles for treatment aided by the Grossman Burn Centre. The girl, identified as Bibi Aisha, featured on the August 9 cover of Time magazine. Aisha told Time that her nose and ears were cut off by her abusive husband — with Taliban approval — to punish her for running away. Time controversially decided to use her as their poster girl to justify American interference in Afghanistan. The photo appeared with the headline, "What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan" (read the WVoN report here).
Now the Grossman Burn Centre has decided to help her. The foundation paid to bring Aisha to Los Angeles, found a host family for her to stay with and is funding her treatment (which could include a prosthetic nose or reconstruction of her nose and ears), Dr.Grossman told the LA Times.
Though the initiative is in itself an act of sympathy and kindness, the terms in which Aisha's case is being presented are quite problematic. Executive Director of Women for Afghan Women, Manizha Naderi is of the view that "Bibi herself wants her suffering to have meaning beyond her personal pain. She has never been to school and may never have heard the term 'human rights,' but she wanted to reveal her wounds to the world because she fully understands what the Taliban mean for women".
Though there is no doubting the role of Taliban in perpetrating violence against women, there is no proof of improvement in Afghan women's situation since the American invasion either. One Afghan girl's treatment cannot in any way justify the atrocities perpetrated by the US in Afghanistan.
