Taliban-run higher education ministry in Afghanistan has decreed that female students would not be allowed in the country’s universities with immediate effect. The order will be in vogue until further notice, say local reports.
As per Afghanistan media, a letter released by the higher education ministry on Tuesday instructed Afghan public and private universities to suspend access to female students immediately, in accordance with a Cabinet decision.
“You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending the education of females until further notice,” said a letter issued to all government and private universities, signed by the Minister for Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem. The spokesman for the ministry, Ziaullah Hashimi, who tweeted the letter, confirmed the order.
There were reports of protests in Kabul after the letter became public. People from the world over have decried the ban and are supporting the women of Afghanistan on Twitter through the hashtag #LetHerLearn.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric described the move as “troubling”. The United States and British UN envoys both condemned the move during the council meeting. Obaidullah Baheer, founder of the Let Afghan Girls Learn campaign, said the move is like “a recurring nightmare stretching over generations. This is the 90s all over again”.
The Taliban has defended its decision, saying such restrictions have been done to preserve “national interest” and women’s “honour”. In the past, the Taliban’s ‘government’ has also restricted women from most fields of employment, ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public, and banned them from parks and gyms.
Soon after it captured power in August last year, the Taliban promised a more moderate rule and women’s and minority rights. But they have widely implemented Islamic law or Sharia across all segments of society, rising fears of the return of the 1990s Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
Shobhil Shrivastava 
Aayush Pal