Taliban decision banning women from pursuing University education is an injustice to them: Activists
Dec 21, 2022
Moradabad/Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 21 : Women's activists here said that the Taliban's decision banning women from pursuing university education is an injustice to them.
"Taliban's decision that Afghan women would not be able to seek higher education, is an injustice towards girls. If Afghan men have the right to seek higher education, then women should too. They should also have the freedom to get educated," said Sunita Bhatnagar, a woman activist from Moradabad Uttar Pradesh, in response to the Taliban's recent ban on university education for Afghan girls.
"Now, when girls are giving their school or university exams, they are suddenly being told that they do not have the right to seek higher education. It is not right to take such a sudden decision," Bhatnagar said.
According to Bhatnagar, if a woman goes to university, and gets educated, it is going to help her throughout her life. "If she uses her education in the right way, she will be able to better handle her household," she said.
According to Varsha Mishra, a woman activist from Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, there is nothing shocking about the Taliban's recent decision to ban university education for Afghan girls.
"Ever since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, it was clear that they will bring forth such policies which bar women's freedom, confine them within the four walls of their household," Mishra said.
"Things might have been better had the world stood for those fighting against the Taliban like they are now standing for the Ukrainians," she added.
Mishra believes that things were better for Afghan women when the US was looking over Afghanistan. "The current situation of Afghan women pains us but sadly, we cannot do anything for them," Mishra said.
The Taliban has ordered an indefinite ban on university education for Afghan girls, according to a letter by the Taliban's higher education minister.
"The Ministry of Higher Education in a letter ordered the suspension of higher education for female students in Afghanistan until the next announcement," Afghan agency TOLO news said in a tweet.
The United States has condemned in "the strongest terms" the Taliban's decision to ban university education for Afghan women and to keep secondary schools closed for girls.
Addressing a press briefing on December 20 (local time), US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price called education an "internationally recognized human right" and warned that the Taliban's "unacceptable stance" will have consequences for them and further isolate the group from the international community.
"The United States condemns, in the strongest terms, the Taliban's indefensible decision to ban women from universities, to keep secondary schools closed to girls, and to continue to impose other restrictions on the ability of women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and their fundamental freedoms," Ned Price said.
