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Afghans counting on world leaders to pressure Taliban for removal of discriminatory policies

On Dec 21 last year, the Taliban government banned female students from going to universities in Afghanistan. This announcement came after a series of restrictive measures they have been imposing on women ever since they came to power in August 2021.

The Taliban had previously banned girls from continuing their schooling from the sixth year onwards, which meant that about 250,000 schoolgirls throughout Afghanistan were deprived of the opportunity to pursue higher education.

Similarly restrictive measures were earlier taken against women's employment in leading government positions and now of all government employment opportunities. All of this at a time when Afghanistan is suffering from hunger and poverty in the midst of a cold winter.

The Taliban's untimely restrictions have anguished not only the vast number of girls but also their families and the general public. For weeks and weeks the women have been showing their frustrations in public gatherings and demonstrations on the streets of Kabul and other provinces.

Men have now joined them in their protest against the series of retrogressive Taliban bans on basic human rights that are fast turning Afghanistan into a big prison for its people.

Except for a few initiatives noted in Kabul where the girls themselves have organized vocational trainings in tailoring and embroidery etc., vast numbers of female students are homebound and increasingly frustrated.

The Taliban government have taken no measures to open alternative vocational training for the vast number of school and university girls they have forced to stay at home. Whereas previously the media mainly featured street demonstrations in Kabul and mainly by women, now both men and women not only in Kabul but other provinces are joining the protest.

Media reports speak of widespread resentment and rising numbers of suicide among women. People are showing their frustrations in social interactions, privately owned media and television interviews. Yet, it all seems to be falling on deaf years.

The Taliban run their own dogmatic agenda and have shown little regard for people's sensitivities and grievances. They often justify what they do in the name of Islam and the traditions of Afghanistan.

Kabul Tolo Television's Afghanistan 1400 programme on Dec 21, featured Ahmad Sai'di, a Kabul University Professor, Mrs Masuda Karokhi, a former MP, and Mulla Akhtar Mohammad Osmani from the Taliban.

The programme also interviewed public intellectuals, Muslim Shirzad, Rahmatollah Nabil, Azita Nazhand, as well as Tom West, the US spokesman on women's rights in Afghanistan, and the Foreign Minister of Germany. Sa'idi and Karokhi were visibly irritated with how the Taliban are abusing their office and imposing unacceptable restrictions that violate the human rights and public sentiments of the Afghan people.

Sai'di stated that Taliban have become increasingly aggressive in their methods and while speaking in the name of Islam are themselves violating Islamic teachings that encourage knowledge and education for everyone including women. Karokhi also stressed that Taliban are violating people's rights in the name of Islam but in reality also Islam itself.

She added, Taliban have lost legitimacy for their refusal to respect the people's Islamically ordained rights and for playing with the future of Afghanistan. They have invited widespread condemnation of the people of this country and the world, including Muslim countries.

Saudi Arabia has issued a statement asking the Taliban to remove the bans they are imposing on women's right to education. The UAE has similarly stated that denial of the right to education is violative of Islamic principles. Karokhi added, the Taliban are bent on turning this country into a wretched land of ignorance and darkness in the name of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

They take from us our God-given rights, and show no sensitivity to the plight of women, injustice and oppression they have been inflicting on the schoolgirls. The Taliban have also selected women for their version of the hudud penalties and subjected them to ruthless flogging in violation of their dignity and human rights.

The women of Afghanistan and all our people have become averse to their barbaric methods. Another commentator, Muslim Shirzad added that the Taliban are answerable to the people of Afghanistan — what they are doing violates Islam, the Afghan people, their culture and good common sense.

The US representative, Tom West commented that the Taliban are fast reverting to their extremist methods of the 1990s when they were in power for five years.

We should all unite and vehemently oppose their policies. The German Foreign Minister was quoted to have said that "the world was watching Afghanistan. As for this particular issue, we will include it in the working agenda of the G7 (Group of Seven) to take appropriate measures."

Even after 18 months in office, not a single country has recognized the Taliban as a legitimate government. The Taliban themselves and the international community know that unless they change their unacceptable ways, they will not be recognized, which is partly why perhaps they are acting like a pariah state.

Afghan commentators and the general public are increasingly expecting the international community, the United States in particular, to pressurize the Taliban more forcefully to put a stop to their unacceptable behaviour.


* The writer is a Professor and Very Distinguished Fellow at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia

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