Taliban violently crack down on female student demonstrations
By Matin Mehran
Local sources in Herat and Takhar provinces say that the Taliban violently suppressed demonstrations by female students who were protesting the ban on them attending university. As they marched on Saturday, December 24, female students in those provinces chanted the slogan, “Education is our right” and demanded that the Taliban reverse their edict against girls’ education, eyewitnesses and participants tell Zan Times.
Shabnam*, one of the protesters, says that the demonstration started around 10 a.m. in downtown Herat and ended with the beating of the protesters by the Taliban and the arrest of a 17-year-old boy. According to Shabnam, dozens of female students took part in the protest.
Afsana*, another protester, says that the Taliban “were already present in these areas and prevented us from advancing.” Another participant, Hamida*, adds that the Taliban had stationed four battle tanks and dozens of gunmen on city streets ahead of the demonstration. “The Taliban were beating the girls who were in the front line with sticks and rifle butts,” she tells Zan Times.
On the same day, a protest in Takhar province was violently broken up by the Taliban. At this protest, dozens of female students gathered to demonstrate against the Taliban’s decision to close universities and education centres to girls, local sources explain to Zan Times.
One of the participants is Sara*, a seventh-semester student of the faculty of law and political science at a private university in Takhar. She says the demonstration was organized by several groups, which marched toward the city centre from multiple directions. Sara says that the Taliban arrested a local journalist and at least five female protesters. So far, there is no information about the fate of the arrested people.
This week’s decisions by the Taliban to ban women and girls from universities and education centres, have faced waves of domestic and international protests and condemnation. Politicians of the former government of Afghanistan, civil society activists, professors of universities, students and citizens of Afghanistan have all condemned this decision by the Taliban and demanded that the regime reverse its ban on girls’ education.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.
