Armed guards barred hundreds of young women from Afghan universities this Wednesday, a day after the Taliban government announced it was banning women from pursuing higher education.
Despite promising a more tolerant regime when they came to power in August 2021, Islamic fundamentalists have multiplied restrictions against women, keeping them away from public life.
AFP journalists observed students gathering in front of universities in the capital Kabul, whose gates were locked and protected by armed security.
“We are doomed. We have lost everything,” said one of them, who asked not to be identified.
“We have no words to express our feelings,” explained another, Madina. “They took away our hopes. They buried our dreams,” the student added.
Male colleagues were also shocked. “It really shows the illiteracy and low knowledge of Islam and human rights [por parte dos talibãs]said one of them, on the condition of anonymity.
“Caged Bird”
Most public and private universities are closed for a few weeks during the winter, although their campuses are generally open to students and staff.
“When I saw the news on the internet (…) I was shocked and surprised,” says Amini, 23, who studies nursing in Kunduz (north). It’s like being a “caged bird,” he added.
The decision to ban women from universities was announced on Tuesday night by Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem.
Most of the country’s teens had already been banned from high school, significantly limiting their ability to access universities.
However, the right of veto did not yet apply to higher education and less than three months ago, thousands of women took the entrance tests.
On Wednesday, outrage was expressed on social media via the hashtag #LetHerLearn (Let Us Learn).
In Kandahar, girls are devastated because they are not allowed to take university exams while boys are in class. #LetHerLearn pic.twitter.com/KWWSzF54Jv
– Habib Khan (@HabibKhanT) December 21, 2022
Several people shared images of students of the Faculty of Medicine of Nangarhar University (East) stopping their exams in solidarity with their female colleagues.
A math teacher from Kabul also announced on Facebook that he had resigned, saying he did not want to teach “where women are not allowed to study”.
The Supreme Leader of the Taliban regime, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and his relatives advocate an extremely strict interpretation of Islam against modern education, especially for women.
The position differs from that of some leaders in Kabul, and even in the ranks, who expected the new regime to tolerate education for women.
“This decision will exacerbate disparities,” a Taliban commander in northwestern Pakistan told AFP.
Qatar’s Conviction
The Taliban regime also expelled women from many government jobs, forbidding them from traveling without a male relative and forcing them to wear a burqa or hijab when outside the home.
Qatar, a Muslim country that played a key role in the negotiations between the Taliban and the West, declared on Wednesday that everyone has the right to education and asked Afghan leaders to reconsider their decision “in accordance with the teachings of the Islamic religion”.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OCI) said the ban “seriously undermines the credibility of the government”.
The international community considers women’s right to education as a fundamental condition in negotiations for humanitarian aid to the country and recognition of the new authorities.
“The Taliban regime cannot hope to become a legitimate member of the international community if it does not fully respect the rights of everyone in Afghanistan. This decision will have consequences,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also stated that he was “deeply troubled” by this decision.
France and Germany condemned the Taliban initiative, an action that will “destroy the future of their own country,” in the words of Germany’s head of diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock.
For British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, this is a “serious step backwards”.
Source: DN
