The Taliban’s prohibition on higher education resulted in the exclusion of hundreds of young women from Afghan institutions the next morning.
Armed guards prevented students from attending universities on Wednesday, a day after the country’s Taliban rulers banned them in a further violation of human rights.
The hardline Islamists have increased restrictions on all aspects of women’s lives, despite international anger, despite having pledged a softer rule when they won office last year.
‘We are doomed. We have lost everything,’ claimed a student who requested anonymity.
Wednesday, hundreds of young women were denied admission to Afghan institutions.
Wednesday at the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan, seats intended for female students were empty.
A team of AFP journalists observed groups of students gathered outside universities in the Afghan capital, Kabul, who were prohibited from entering by armed guards and locked gates.
On the highways heading to the campuses, many were observed standing in groups while wearing hijabs.
Male students also reacted with disbelief to the most recent regulation.
“It demonstrates their illiteracy and ignorance of Islam and human rights,” remarked a person who also requested anonymity.
If the current condition persists, the future will be worse. Everyone is terrified.
The majority of private and public institutions are closed for a few weeks during the winter, but campuses are normally accessible to students and faculty.
Wednesday, Afghan female university students approach Taliban security troops near a private university in Kabul.
Wednesday evening in Kabul, female university students stroll by a private university on their way home.
Wednesday, male students attend lessons at Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan, adjacent to empty seats intended for female students.
Male students protest the decision to ban women from university campuses with their female peers.
Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem issued a short statement late on Tuesday night announcing the ban on women attending universities.
It stated, “You are all thus notified to immediately implement the aforementioned directive suspending female education till further notice.”
Washington denounced the decision in the harshest possible terms.
“The Taliban cannot hope to be a genuine member of the world community unless they respect the rights of everyone in Afghanistan.” This decision will have repercussions for the Taliban,’ stated Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated on Tuesday that he was “very disturbed.”
Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, “The secretary-general reiterates that the denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls, but would have a disastrous impact on the future of the country.”
Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the country’s minister for higher education, sent a letter to all public and private universities mandating the adjustment.
Wednesday, a female Afghan student departs the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The day after women were forbidden from attending campuses at a university in Kandahar Province, male university students attend class behind a curtain separating males and girls.
The prohibition on higher education comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women across the country were permitted to take university entrance tests, with many intending to pursue professions in teaching and medicine.
The majority of adolescent girls across the nation have already been prohibited from secondary education, which drastically restricts university enrollment.
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August of last year, institutions were obliged to institute new policies, including gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, and women were only allowed to be taught by professors of the same gender or older men.
The Taliban adhere to a strict interpretation of Islam, with supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and his inner circle of clerics opposing modern education, particularly for girls and women.
In contrast, many Kabul officials and their subordinates had hoped that girls would be permitted to continue their education after the takeover.
Under the condition of anonymity, a Taliban commander operating in northwest Pakistan told AFP that the current move will exacerbate these divides.
Wednesday, female students depart Kandahar University in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, male students attend courses at the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
In a sad reversal, the Taliban prevented females from returning to secondary schools on the morning they were scheduled to reopen in March.
Several Taliban officials insisted that the restriction on secondary education was only temporary, but have offered a variety of explanations for the closure, ranging from a shortage of cash to the time required to restructure the curriculum in accordance with Islamic principles.
Since the ban, many adolescent girls have been married off at a young age, frequently to considerably older men selected by their fathers.
Several families interviewed by AFP last month stated that the school ban, coupled with economic pressure, made it preferable for their daughters to be married than to remain at home.
Many government professions have been eliminated for women, or they are paid a pittance of their prior wage to stay at home. In addition, they are prohibited from traveling without a male relative and are required to cover up outside the home, preferably with a burqa.
Wednesday, Taliban security guards stand watch at the entrance to a private institution in Kabul.
Wednesday, a female Afghan student departs the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Wednesday marks the return of students to Kandahar university in Kandahar, Afghanistan, after women were forbidden from attending the campuses.
In November, women were barred from parks, amusement parks, gyms, and public baths.
In negotiations over funding and recognition of the Taliban administration, the international world has made the right to education for all women a sticking point.
Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor, stated that cooperation with the Taliban remained the best course of action.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stated on a visit to Washington on Tuesday, ‘I am upset with the decision made today.’
Despite a number of failures with regard to women’s education and other issues, he continued, “I still believe Kabul and the interim administration offer the simplest road to achieving our objective.”
During the 20 years between the Taliban’s two reigns, girls were permitted to attend school and women were permitted to seek employment in all fields, while social conservatism persisted.
In recent weeks, the authorities have resumed public floggings and killings of men and women as they apply a severe version of Islamic sharia law
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