Taliban Explains Why Afghan Women Have Been Banned From Universities - NDTV

Kabul:

Afghan universities were declared disconnected limits to women due to the fact that pistillate students were not pursuing instructions including a due formal code, the Taliban's curate for higher acquisition said Thursday.

The prohibition announced earlier this week is the latest regularisation connected women's rights successful Afghanistan ordered by the Taliban since their instrumentality to powerfulness successful August past year.

It has drawn planetary outrage, including from Muslim nations who deemed it against Islam, and from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies who said the prohibition whitethorn magnitude to "a transgression against humanity".

But Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the curate for higher acquisition successful the Taliban government, insisted Thursday that women students had ignored Islamic instructions -- including connected what to deterioration oregon being accompanied by a antheral comparative erstwhile travelling.

"Unfortunately aft the passing of 14 months, the instructions of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate regarding the acquisition of women were not implemented," Nadeem said successful an interrogation connected authorities television.

"They were dressing similar they were going to a wedding. Those girls who were coming to universities from location were besides not pursuing instructions connected hijab."

Nadeem besides said immoderate subject subjects were not suitable for women. "Engineering, agriculture and immoderate different courses bash not lucifer the dignity and honour of pistillate students and besides Afghan culture," helium said.

The authorities had besides decided to unopen those madrassas that were teaching lone women students but were housed wrong mosques, Nadeem said.

The prohibition connected assemblage acquisition came little than 3 months aft thousands of women students were allowed to beryllium assemblage entranceway exams, galore aspiring for teaching and medicine arsenic aboriginal careers.

Secondary schools for girls person been closed crossed astir of the state for implicit a twelvemonth -- besides temporarily, according to the Taliban, though they person offered a litany of excuses for wherefore they haven't re-opened.

Women person dilatory been squeezed retired of nationalist beingness since the Taliban's return, pushed retired of galore authorities jobs oregon paid a fraction of their erstwhile wage to enactment astatine home.

They are besides barred from travelling without a antheral comparative and indispensable screen up successful public, and are prohibited from going to parks, fairs, gyms and nationalist baths.

The Taliban's attraction of women including its latest determination to restrict assemblage entree for them drew fierce absorption from the G7, whose ministers demanded the prohibition beryllium reversed.

"Gender persecution whitethorn magnitude to a transgression against humanity nether the Rome Statute, to which Afghanistan is simply a authorities party," the ministers said successful a statement, referring to the International Criminal Court successful The Hague.

"Taliban policies designed to erase women from nationalist beingness volition person consequences for however our countries prosecute with the Taliban."

The planetary assemblage has made the close to acquisition for each women a sticking constituent successful negotiations implicit assistance and designation of the Taliban regime.

Saudi Arabia excessively expressed "astonishment and regret" astatine the ban, urging the Taliban to reverse it.

But Nadeem deed backmost astatine the planetary community, saying it should "not interfere successful Afghanistan's interior affairs".

- Rare protests -

Earlier Thursday a radical of Afghan women staged a thoroughfare protestation successful Kabul against the ban.

"They expelled women from universities. Oh, the respected people, support, support. Rights for everyone oregon nary one!" chanted the protesters arsenic they rallied successful a Kabul neighbourhood, footage obtained by AFP showed.

A protester astatine the rally told AFP "some of the girls" had been arrested by women constabulary officers. Two were aboriginal released and 2 remained successful custody, she added, speaking connected information of anonymity.

Women-led protests person go progressively uncommon successful Afghanistan since the Taliban took implicit the state successful August 2021, peculiarly aft the detention of halfway activists astatine the commencement of this year.

Participants hazard arrest, unit and stigma from their families for taking part.

Despite promising a softer regularisation erstwhile they seized power, the Taliban person ratcheted up restrictions connected each aspects of women's lives.

After their takeover, universities were forced to instrumentality caller rules including gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, portion women were lone permitted to beryllium taught by professors of the aforesaid sex, oregon aged men.

The Taliban adhere to an austere mentation of Islam, with the movement's ultimate person Hibatullah Akhundzada and his interior ellipse of clerics against modern education, particularly for girls and women, immoderate Taliban officials say.

In the 20 years betwixt the Taliban's 2 reigns, girls were allowed to spell to schoolhouse and women were capable to question employment successful each sectors, though the state remained socially conservative.

The authorities person besides returned to nationalist floggings of men and women successful caller weeks, arsenic they instrumentality an utmost mentation of Islamic sharia law.

(Except for the headline, this communicative has not been edited by NDTV unit and is published from a syndicated feed.)