Similar to last year, this year in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, schools and universities opened their doors to students, but girls above the sixth grade remained deprived once again. In recent years, at the beginning of each academic year, there was hope that the Taliban would reconsider their decision to deprive girls of education, and the Taliban leader would issue orders to reopen schools and universities to girls. However, unlike previous years, there was no hope for such an occurrence this year, and fewer believed that the Taliban would reconsider the ban on girls’ education. The Taliban’s performance over the past two and a half years has acquainted observers with bitter truths. One of those truths is that the prohibition of education for adolescents and young girls by the Taliban is not a decision that will easily change. The Taliban have entangled their identity and legitimacy with the suppression of women. If they show any leniency in this regard, they will lose their legitimacy and position among their traditional and rural supporters.
The Taliban fear literacy and awareness in general and women’s knowledge in particular, and for this reason, they have made every effort to keep girls obedient and submissive to the male-dominated societal values by closing the doors of schools, universities, and educational centers to them. The Taliban perceive their strength as dependent on the ignorance of the people, especially women. It is not without reason that their educational system, whether in modern schools or religious madrassas, strives to create an environment that eliminates questioning among students (now exclusively boys) and molds their personalities and thoughts to serve the ruling apparatus.
There is no doubt that the Taliban are anti-women and girls, violating their fundamental rights and seeking to eradicate them from all social spheres, whether through religious texts or tribal customs and traditions. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that if a part of the story of women portrays the injustices they suffer at the hands of the Taliban regime, the important part of this story is the tireless efforts of Afghan women not to surrender to the conditions imposed on them by the Taliban. Numerous stories of women’s efforts to resist the oppressive regime should be given importance. It is easier to talk about the injustices of the Taliban against women, but we must not let focusing on the ugliness and complexities overshadow the courage and resilience of women in the shadow of Taliban oppression.
Despite Afghan women’s daunting challenges, many engage in various forms of education, from learning in underground schools to online education and entrepreneurship. There are countless reasons to feel discouraged, but Afghan women have demonstrated that they can pursue their goals even in the worst circumstances and refuse to yield. The Taliban aim to revert the situation to the 1990s and deprive women entirely of the joys of life, but they fail to realize that nearly a quarter of a century has passed since that era, and time cannot be turned back. A significant portion of society has benefited from modern life’s amenities, and their perspectives have widened, making it difficult to fully comply with the Taliban’s backward demands. Especially, women have realized that the Taliban’s narrative of religion and life does not resonate with contemporary humanity and is an outdated narrative intended to forcefully dominate people.
With meticulous planning, the Taliban managed to suppress women’s movements in Afghanistan for over a year and a half and almost put them out of action. In the early months of the Taliban’s return, men were either fleeing the Taliban’s lashes and prisons or hiding in caves, while many women were present on the scene, protesting against the Taliban and challenging armed Taliban members, questioning their narrative. It must be acknowledged that the Taliban gradually managed to either force these women to flee the country or confine them to their homes. However, this did not happen easily; the Taliban resorted to various means to succeed in this endeavor, from gruesome torture to sexual assault. The Taliban’s track record tells the tale that this group does not hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve its goals. For years, the Taliban has spared no cruelty in its quest to strike at the republic system in the country, resorting to launching bloody massacres, with the majority of the victims being civilians.
Despite the Taliban’s success in suppressing women’s movements, it cannot be denied that the issue of women is still one that has always troubled the Taliban. On one hand, they are forced to impose heavy restrictions on women to satisfy their supporters, but on the other hand, this action increases dissatisfaction among urban sectors of society and puts pressure on them from international organizations and foreign countries, criticizing and pressuring them not to recognize the Taliban regime. Among the Taliban leaders, some individuals criticize the decisions of the Taliban leader, Mullah Hibatullah, regarding depriving women of education and some of their other fundamental rights in their private sessions. However, they are compelled to refrain from openly protesting to maintain the cohesion of the Taliban ranks and implement Mullah Hibatullah’s orders in this regard. Taliban leaders believe that undermining Mullah Hibatullah’s authority is detrimental to everyone and leads to dissension and weakness within the Taliban ranks.
Predicting the future is challenging. Perhaps the Taliban could revert the situation to the 1990s in the long term, but they face difficulties in doing so. One of the issues that seriously complicates their work in this arena is the visible and invisible resistance of Afghan women against the Taliban’s laws and regulations. Currently, the voices of women living under the Taliban government go unheard, as the atmosphere is so suffocating that a woman living under Taliban scrutiny is unwilling to risk danger and publicly speak out against the Taliban’s harassment of women or the efforts of women caught in the Taliban’s grip to assert their fundamental rights. However, a review of the events that have occurred since the Taliban regained power reveals certain realities, including the fact that many Afghan women are aware of their rights and are not easily willing to give up demanding them. Afghan women have dreams and believe that sooner or later these dreams must come true. They understand well that the meaning of their life is tied to pursuing their lofty dreams, and without these dreams, life loses its value and significance. The greatest threat to a regime that seeks total control is the existence and activities of a collective of individuals in a society who have lofty dreams and are determined to pursue these dreams contrary to the will of authoritarian rulers.
