Can the higher education ban on Afghan women survive?

The ban has drawn global rejection, with even leaders from Muslim countries demanding its reversal

A couple of days ago, the talented and ambitious young women from all over Afghanistan woke up to their worst nightmare: the ruling Taliban had closed the doors of higher education to women, depriving them of their right to get an education. A few months back, Afghan women had been allowed to take the university entrance exams and attend classes in physically segregated classrooms under strict dress codes and new on-campus socialisation rules. But later, the Taliban regime decided against allowing women to attain university education.

Let us not overlook the fact that most of the Afghan girls, who are now suffering from higher education ban, were either not born during the first Taliban rule (1996-2001) or were in their nascency. The new generation of women were encouraged to speak out and stand for their rights unlike the previous generation of women who still fear how they were punished brutally if their dress code fell a little short of the harsh standards the Taliban had set for them.

While working as a Consultant for the UN Women and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kabul almost 10 years ago, I remember the ministry staff sitting around bukharis (heaters) sharing the sad stories of abuse they experienced during the previous Taliban rule. Tea breaks were the time when women shared happenings from their daily lives. However, I noticed that their chat often drifted towards their past and particularly their lives under the Taliban in the 1990s. One day, a khala (female peon), while distributing teacups to us sitting around the bukhari, got emotional. With eyes full of tears, she removed her chaadari (a long cloth for covering head and body) and showed us the scar on her head she got from a Talib for not covering her head well enough. Nearly all staff members had similar stories to share. They still harbour that anxiousness and fear and are simply unable to forget the bitterness of their past.

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they were conscious that many disturbing stories from their first rule were still alive in the memory of people. So they initially made statements aimed at reassuring both Afghans and the world. But later, they adopted the same old regressive policies, resulting in their failure to earn legitimacy from the international community, as well as the seizure of the country’s foreign assets.

The ban on Afghan women to receive higher education has drawn global rejection, with even leaders from Muslim countries — including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Iran — demanding its reversal. India is also among the countries rejecting the ban. Leaders of the most powerful G7 nations have also disapproved of it. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has gone to the extent of warning that the Taliban will have to pay a price for it. The foreign ministers of as many as 11 US allies — the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, Australia, and Canada — have also issued statements denouncing the ban.

The Taliban are, however, adamant that they would not undo the ban and have warned the ‘outsiders’ against interfering in their internal affairs. There have been reports of the Taliban cracking down on those protesting the ban. They have arrested women protesters in Kabul and used water cannons to disperse women in one of the protests, in Herat.

However, despite telling the world to stay away, the Taliban rulers are continuously issuing statements to justify the ban — something which indicates their readiness to talk to the world community. Are they feeling pressure from powerful Muslim countries and revered personalities, including the Grand Imam of the historic Islamic Al-Azhar University in Cairo, who are opposing the ban as un-Islamic?

Can the Taliban afford to ignore the sentiments of millions of people in Afghanistan as well as the Afghan diaspora which is in constant touch with their homeland, particularly via social media?

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a BBC news report from the year 2000 when the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan and some signs of ‘donor fatigue’ were emerging on the global stage. The BBC reported the concerns and observations of Ms Sadako Ogata, the then UN Refugee High Commissioner, on the Afghanistan situation. Surprisingly, 22 years on, her observations still stand true for the present-day Afghanistan and the Taliban. Ms Ogata had noted that Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Iran and other countries were experiencing a ‘compassion fatigue’ from donors because of the lack of openness from the ruling Taliban and that the ‘fatigue’ could be eased if the Taliban could show openness in their policies.

Today, the Taliban, the international donors, Afghan refugees and host nations, including Pakistan, still stand where they were 22 years ago. The ball, however, has landed in the court of the Taliban. It remains to been seen whether the Taliban will show any flexibility in their approach or continue treading the same old path. Only time will tell if they have learnt any lessons from the past.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2022.

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