Tuesday, December 20, 2022: 450 days after banning girls from going to high school, the Taliban Ministry of Education banned Afghan girls from going to university as well.
Hearing this, I remembered the day I took the Kankor (University Entry) exam at the Kabul University. For the first time, I was encountering such a big number of young girls and boys, who’s face bloomed with hope to participate in the development of the country; a generation full of dreams and energy to make Afghanistan proud. I recorded the scene in my mind to keep it as an inspiration and motivation for myself, so that I could keep the hope and my dreams alive while I stood along a generation of hope and dreams for a brighter Afghanistan.
The enthusiasm at the Kabul university and around the university was always a symbol of hope and development for Afghanistan. Unfortunately, with every passing day since the takeover of Afghanistan, that generation full of hope and dream keep losing their strength and hope for a brighter Afghanistan.
It is incredibly hard to talk about our dreams when the country and people suffer just to survive. It is even harder to see the eyes of young Afghan women whose dreams are being shattered without no sane reason. Since last August, I have not even talked to one of my classmates and friends about what came upon us and our dreams; we cannot find the strength to face the sad reality of Afghanistan. Each of us are suffering silently from watching our dreams getting buried alive in matter of a day. I gather just enough strength to put on a fake smile on my face so that I do not have to talk about it. The news of banning girls from universities felt like being burnt alive. How is this even possible to ignore the dream of 48% of a population in a country just for the sake of their beliefs. Women have always been the victim in Afghanistan; our mothers have sacrificed their lives so that we would be allowed to study and be recognized as an important asset to our country, yet here we are.
Education is a basic human right. Likewise, Islam and Quran have always invited Muslims to read and learn, where the first verse descending to Prophet Mohammad was, ‘Eqra’ an order to read. Thus, according to Quran, a Muslim’s first duty is to read, therefore, there is no restriction on education in Quran. Prophet Mohammad has said that “seeking knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim” and Quran has even emphasized on starving for knowledge. Allah has given us the right and the freedom to live our lives the way we want, as it has come in Quran that there is no compulsion in religion (2:256). Taliban is an illiterate group of extremists who ban girls’ education in the name of Islam, whereas Islam emphasizes in Quran that we are free to choose and have the right to accept or deny. History has witnessed that the people of Afghanistan, especially the Hazara community have always strived for education. Despite the discriminations, and the target attacks on our educational centers, we stood as brave warriors for education. To name a few, the attack on Kaaj educational center, Mawood Educational Center, Sayed-ul-Shuhada high school, and many more that took the lives of Afghan girls while attending school, exercising their basic human right.
After the Taliban takeover in August 2021, we have lost every dream and hope of working in our country; from laughing out loud on the street, to making memories with our sisters and brothers in our own homeland. I have witnessed every one of us putting our soul into our studies, working hard with the hope to introduce Afghanistan’s new generation to the world; the generation of knowledge, the generation of courage and faith. Unfortunately, our dreams only remained a dream. And now I cannot even find proper words to express how hard the time goes by. Yet, everyday another heartbreaking news comes out of Afghanistan. With all the hardships, many of our students worked hard to keep par with others in international universities. Every investment and work done for the development of Afghanistan during the past 20 years is razed to the ground by The Taliban since their takeover in August 2021.
We are now back to the rules issued by Taliban 20 year ago where women and girls were banned from attaining any form of education in the country which is a major setback for Afghanistan and the world. 20 years of engaging women in different forms of education, in economic development, and in politics has changed to women sitting at home waiting for the male order to eat, to breath, or to die. The world is watching, so are we. Since the ban on girls’ high school girls, women and girls are banned from going to parks, gyms and public baths; women are not allowed to travel unless they accompanied by a male member of the family. Every possible dream is taken away from Afghan women. There is a new restriction on women every day by the Taliban. I am writing this to ask each of you to stand with us, the Afghan women, against the terrorist regime humiliating human rights and women’s right.
Since last August, everything has changed; Taliban make every decision for women in Afghanistan from what to wear, where to go, what to say, what subject should be taught, what career women and girls can pursue and now a complete ban on going to university!
Immediate action must be taken for Afghanistan by international authorities, otherwise, terrible things will happen that will be hard for the world to remedy. Keeping Afghan women away from education can have devastating consequences locally, regionally, and for the international community. It is important to remember the ancient saying that goes “If you educate a woman, you will educate a generation”.
We are calling for help to regain the strength to work for a better Afghanistan.