Powerful Islamic fundamentalists have launched a fierce attack on the women’s affairs minister, Sima Samar. The attack accuses her of blasphemy, labels her “Afghanistan’s Salman Rushdie” and demands she be given “appropriate punishment,” which under Sharia law means death. The attack appears as a front-page headline in a weekly newspaper published by former Afghan President Rabbani. Samar’s deputy women’s minister confronted Rabbani just days ago, demanding an explanation for the rape and murder of countless women under his rule.