Days of Darkness for Afghan women

Samra Athar Kakakhel

Unbelievably, the Taliban decided to prohibit Afghan women from attending universities. It is quite sad that this religious group does not have a logical understanding of Islamic law, especially when it comes to women’s rights and actions.

How quickly the decision was made, banning female students from attending exams at Medical University and other universities.

The male students, therefore, decided to postpone the exams out of sympathy for their female classmates. The Taliban in Kabul punished angry female students after expelling them by force.

In reality, women are viewed as commodities or as animals forced to work and breed. One can see an uneducated mother raising her children.

The Taliban believe that women should be hated and that their presence in public should be viewed as a sign of sin and weakness.

It is necessary to humiliate a woman and withdraw all of her rights, including those granted by Islam and Islam. There is gender segregation in university classes since the Taliban are into power.

Female students were instructed to dress accordingly, covering their faces and wearing black clothing to reflect the current Iranian culture.

Either older male teachers or female teachers taught the female students. Unfortunately, this was not enough for the Taliban. Girls were told to carry proper hijab.

With these forceful tactics, the Taliban are proving to the world what type of Islam they believe in. Unfortunately, Islamic experts have stayed largely silent on the Taliban’s acts, which are embarrassing all Muslim nations.

The Taliban’s harassment is damaging Islam’s reputation, particularly in regard to women’s rights, and the Muslim world, particularly the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), should pay attention.

Why do Muslim nations remain mute on the important issue when it comes to women since women are not given the right to education or employment anywhere in the Muslim world?

According to the Afghan minister, girls who wish to practice agriculture, engineering, or medicine must follow Islamic principles.

According to their logic, Afghan women should likewise be prohibited from working in agriculture, caring for animals, or traveling great distances to gather water.

Statements made by a Taliban minister that women shouldn’t work in the professions of engineering and agriculture in Afghanistan. In Afghan culture, there are several limitations on women’s education rights.

Many respectable Afghan families moved to Pakistan after the Taliban announced the suspension of secondary schools so their daughters can continue their education.

After the restriction on female university students was imposed last month, many Afghan families migrated to Pakistan and Iran.

Due to the instability in their country, more than eight million Afghans have migrated to 90 different countries as refugees. Other million of Afghans are internally displaced and suffer poor living conditions.

90% of the world’s poorest people currently experience hunger and unemployment; children are the worst affected, with millions suffering from hunger.

Afghanistan has already fallen to the bottom of international socioeconomic indexes; limiting women’s access to school will further push the nation into the dark age.

Donor fatigue will certainly cause Afghanistan’s problems to become worse in the future. Afghanistan has fallen off the radar since the US troops left as the West has concentrated more on the Ukrainian issue.

Thus, the Taliban’s move has further isolated the majority of the country. Despite having seized over the country, the Taliban are unable to run a government.

They forgot how they would handle women’s health issues if there were no female doctors while banning women’s education.

Women are often seen as effective educators, particularly at the primary and secondary levels. Rejecting education to hundreds of thousands of women will only worsen the inequality in a culture already filled with ignorant.

The Taliban banned more than 3,000 Afghan women from working for the UN and other international donors the day after the ban on female students. As a result, donor organizations have stopped working.

Afghans are being forced to sell their kids, organs, or even their bodies due to the country’s poverty. Further growth in poverty could have harmful effects.

The country’s worsening security situation doesn’t provide a bright outlook for 2023. Taliban nation suffering difficulties for its citizens in an isolated world. Taliban’s harsh policies against social freedoms could serve as a consistent theme for all populations.

Challenges are expected to emerge for the Taliban in 2023, and they must immediately remove their ban on women attending universities for Afghan women.

The international community and Afghanistan’s donor nations should speak loudly to the Taliban about the long-term consequences such poor choices have for all Afghans, not just women and girls.

Taliban must pay attention to the opinions of the neighboring nation and Afghanistan’s supporters if they believe they are deserving of ruling Afghanistan. For that to happen, they’ll need to leave behind their “days of darkness for Afghan women.”

*The writer is an Islamabad based Sociopolitical Analyst