Women activists protested against the Taliban’s minister of education, who said that the closure of girls’ schools was a demand of community elders.
“If you ask the community elders in the villages and hills, you will find out how many people are ready to send their 16- or 17-year-old daughters to school. We have lived in Afghan society, and we are aware of the people’s culture,” said Mawlawi Nurullah Munir, while in a meeting in Uruzgan province on Sunday.
Just hours after the news was shared on social media, women activists shared videos with Zan Times in which they responded to the comments of the Taliban’s minister of education.
Nilab Shahab, a member of Union and Solidarity of Afghanistan Women, said that linking the ban on girls’ education to the culture of the people of Afghanistan is a mere excuse. “Men and women in Afghanistan are waiting for girls’ schools to open. This Taliban claim that people do not want their daughters to go to school is a big lie,” she said in a video.
“The Taliban say that girls’ schools are closed due to cultural problems and the people of Afghanistan do not want to send their girls to schools,” said Nahid Omar, another member of the group, who hides her identity with a black mask and sunglasses. “They are totally lying, the people of Afghanistan, women and men want the girls’ schools to open.” Omar believes that the Taliban’s lies show that they are not willing to reopen girls’ schools.
On Saturday, female students protested in Gardiz city in Paktia province, chanting “Education is our right.” About 10 days ago, four of their schools were opened after a verbal directive from the local Taliban. They were ordered closed again on Saturday by Taliban intelligence, a provincial education ministry employee told Zan Times.
In a video shared with Zan Times, one of the students addressed the Taliban: “Why did you play with our feelings? What have we done? We are the oppressed, we are women!”
After the crowd of protesters in Gardiz city in Paktia kept increasing in size, the Taliban arrested at least five protesters, two sources confirmed to Zan Times. “Among those who are imprisoned by the Taliban are students, a teacher and their family members,” said a local source involved in the protest. “A teacher from Piran School, a grade 12th student from Shah Qombra School and two other girls whose identities are still unknown, and their family members are with the Taliban,” she said.
Women from across the country show solidarity with students in Paktia. “We support girls’ students in Paktia and we will always be by their side. The Taliban are afraid of educated women,” said Maryam Ahmadi, another member of the group.
