New Delhi: The Taliban government’s recent decision to suspend university education for Afghanistan’s women students has drawn sharp condemnation from the Muslim world, including from its old, hardliner ally Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi foreign ministry expressed its “astonishment and regret” at Afghan women being denied a university education. Incidentally, the highest level of education that an Afghan girl can now attain in the country is till grade 6 – the last year of primary school.
Saudi Arabia called on the Taliban to reverse this decision, saying it was “astonishing in all Islamic countries”.
The kingdom, which till 2019, had enforced sweeping restrictions itself on women’s travel, employment, and even driving, believes that this ban was contrary to the Afghan woman’s “full legitimate rights, foremost of which is the right to education, which contributes to supporting security, stability, development and prosperity for Afghanistan”.
Saudi Arabia’s fierce disapproval is symptomatic of the widening distance with the present Taliban regime that has widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia. When they seized power in August 2021, Saudi Arabia had released a very cautious statement, saying, “The kingdom stands with the choices that the Afghan people make without interference.”
What did other Islamic nations say?
The intergovernmental grouping of Muslim-majority countries — Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) — also denounced the decision, calling on the Taliban to reverse it “for the sake of maintaining consistency between their promises and actual decisions”.
“Suspending access by female students to Afghanistan’s universities, OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha believes, will go a long way in seriously denting the credibility of the government in place, just as it will deny Afghan girls and women their fundamental rights to education, employment, and social justice,” the OIC tweeted.
The “Movement of Mighty Women of Afghanistan” said in an official statement: “The Taliban will not stop oppressing women until the country sinks completely into darkness and ignorance.”
“All girls, women and men who are aware and believe in gender equality, are asked to stand up to confront these petrifying and anti-human rights decisions and don’t let the Taliban destroy everything in the country and turn Afghanistan into a graveyard of our wishes,” the organisation added.
Condemning the ban, the Turkish foreign ministry said: “Education is a fundamental human right that all individuals must enjoy and not be deprived of, on the basis of equal opportunity and in a non-discriminatory manner. It is essential for the prosperity and future of the country that all girls are entitled to education without any exception in Afghanistan in line with the expectation of its people. In this regard, we state our expectation for the decision to be revised and for necessary steps to be taken as soon as possible.”
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the ban “neither Islamic nor humane”. Famous Turkish novelist Elif Shafak called the new order of the Taliban horrible in this statement on Instagram.
Qatar said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that these negative practices have a significant impact on human rights, development, and the economy of Afghanistan.”
How did the West react ?
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Taliban order a setback to their objective of being accepted by the international community.
“Deeply dismayed by the announcement from the Taliban denying women the right to university education. Afghan women deserve better. Afghanistan deserves better. The Taliban have just definitively set back their objective of being accepted by the international community,” Blinken tweeted.
The UN called for the decision’s “immediate” revocation. “Banning women from attending university is another appalling and cruel blow to the rights of Afghan women and girls, and a deeply regrettable setback,” said the UN Human rights Twitter handle.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Taliban’s decision was a grave step backwards.
“As a father to daughters, I cannot imagine a world in which they’re denied an education. The women of Afghanistan have so much to offer. Denying them access to university is a grave step backwards. The world is watching. We will judge the Taliban by their actions.” Sunak wrote on Twitter.
The Taliban have banned girls from attending middle and high school too, prohibited them from most jobs, and forced them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. In addition, women are not permitted to visit parks or gyms alone or to take flights without a man. Now that women are prohibited from attending both private and public colleges, the last hope for their rights has also diminished, according to critics.
Following the Taliban’s declaration on 20 December, students were spotted sobbing and crying in front of various colleges. Viralling the hashtag #LetHerLearn, people from all over the world have come out in support of Afghan women.
Also read: India “notes with concern” reports of Taliban banning women from universities in Afghanistan