Advertisement
Advertisement

Inspiring doctor ahead of her time

Masooda Jalal may have little chance of victory when Afghans go to the polls tomorrow.

But she is clearly not lacking in boldness as she challenges formidable opponents ranging from notorious warlords to interim President Hamid Karzai in the country's first presidential elections.

'Lots of money and government muscle has been deployed to ensure victory for Mr Karzai,' says the lone female presidential candidate. 'But he cannot even step out of his office and connect with the people due to fears about his security.'

'As for me, I have campaigned across two-thirds of the country and I know the people of Afghanistan want to decide their own destiny. They want a fresh start.'

Dr Jalal, a 42-year-old paediatric doctor and mother of three who worked for the UN's World Food Programme, has been conducting a gutsy and high-profile campaign, with election posters plastered across Kabul and several provincial cities.

She maintains her campaign is short of money, but there are suggestions she is being funded by powerful opponents of Mr Karzai.

Though she is an ethnic Tajik, a large crowd showed up for her rally last week inside a mosque in a Kabul suburb dominated by poor Hazaras.

Many of them say they will vote for a Hazara candidate, but they clearly like what the impassioned Dr Jalal has to say.

'I want to decrease your suffering and pain, I want to heal the wounds,' she tells them. 'I want to save Afghanistan from the current situation where nobody is bothered about the poor.'

Dr Jalal rightly claims to be the first woman in Afghan history to make a bid for the highest office.

When told that conservative Afghan men say they will not vote for her as Islam does not permit a woman to be president, she responds: 'That statement is clearly illegal. Afghanistan's new constitution has settled the issue - men and women have equal rights. Moreover, other Islamic nations have women leaders.'

Afghanistan may not be ready yet for a woman president. But by conducting an energetic election campaign that seeks to raise the awareness of democracy and development, Dr Jalal has signalled she is one fledgling Afghan politician who needs to be closely watched in future.

Post