I will never forget the day the Taliban took control of Ghazni province. I was sitting with a group of men, one of whom started to talk. “Thank God the Taliban came because the girls were overacting,” he said. None of the men in the group reacted to his sexist comment, and I didn‘t either. Soon after, the Taliban began their anti–women policies, one of which was to prevent Afghan girls from attending secondary school. Later, the Taliban‘s Ministry of Higher Education issued an order that denied women and girls the right to receive higher education throughout the country.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, issued a ban that greatly surprised many people who understood the importance of girls attending universities to get higher education. Unfortunately, many Afghans with traditional beliefs supported the ban, believing that women should remain at home. This is a sad reflection of traditional Afghan society, which backs the extremist group‘s decision about the education of Afghan girls.
Unfortunately, women and girls in Afghanistan are facing the consequences of extremist beliefs from the past, and are being denied their right to education and work. Religious scholars have not responded to the Taliban‘s oppressive orders towards women. It is up to intellectuals to decide the future of girls in Afghanistan, or else women could lose all of their basic rights in the country. I urge all Afghan women to continue to fight against the Taliban‘s extremist attacks on them.
