Mob victim becomes rallying cry for Afghans

Poets, musicians, actors and activists packed a shop in Kabul to commemorate the short life and violent death of a woman who has become a symbol for justice and women’s rights in a country that historically elevates warlords and battlefield heroes to national icons.

The name of Farkhunda, beaten to death by a frenzied mob apparently in the mistaken belief that she had burned a Koran, has become a rallying cry for Afghans hoping the shocking incident will lead to profound changes in Afghanistan.

Activists say the previously unquestioned power of the religious establishment is being challenged for the first time in Afghanistan’s modern history. Religious leaders and conservative politicians have been forced by the power of public opinion to apologise for trying to justify Farkhunda’s killing. At least one official has been sacked for saying the woman would have deserved her death if she had burned the Muslim holy book.