The leader of the movement to promote girls’ education in Afghanistan, Matiullah Wesa, was beaten and arrested outside a mosque on Monday in Kabul. The denunciation of her was made by her brother and the United Nations.
“Matiullah Wesa, director of PenPath and advocate for girls’ education, was arrested in Kabul on Monday,” the UN mission in Afghanistan tweeted.
Hours earlier, Wesa had posted a video of Afghan girls holding banners written in Arabic, defending their right to go to school. In the descriptions cited by the AFP agency, the activist’s brother, Samiullah Wesa, says that several men got out of two cars in front of the mosque where Matiullah Wesa had been praying and beat him after the activist asked for identification.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by matiullah wesa مطيع الله ويسا (@matiullah_wesa)
“Matiullah had finished his prayers and left the mosque when men in two vehicles stopped him. When Matiullah asked for his identity papers, they beat him and took him away by force,” said Samiullah Wesa.
The Taliban government last year banned girls from attending secondary school, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where there is an education ban. Since this ban, Wesa has been visiting remote areas to gain support from the locals.
“The damage caused by school closures is irreversible and undeniable. We have held meetings with the locals and will continue our protest if the schools remain closed,” Matiullah Wesa wrote on Twitter last week.
Taliban leaders, who have also banned women from going to university, have repeatedly said they will reopen girls’ schools once certain conditions are met. They argue that they lack the funds and time to reshape the curriculum along Islamic lines.
Source: TSF
