Taliban security personnel used force to disperse an Afghan women’s demonstration against a law that prohibits women from enrolling in institutions, making numerous arrests in the process.
The United Nations and the international community immediately denounced the Taliban’s decision, which was made late on December 20 and published in a letter from the education ministry of the Islamist group to colleges and universities.
Additionally, three journalists were detained. It is also believed that protests occurred in the Takhar province. A day after the ban was issued, guards barred hundreds of women from visiting campuses on Wednesday.
Since the Taliban retook control last year, this regulation has been the most recent to limit women’s access to higher education. Secondary schools are already closed to girls.
On Tuesday, the higher education minister announced a new prohibition that will take effect right away and forbid women from enrolling in public and private universities.
The gathering originally intended to congregate in front of Kabul University, the largest and most prestigious academic institution in the nation, but they moved after the government stationed a sizable security force there.
At the gathering, one protestor claimed that “several of the girls” had been detained by female police officers. She said, “Some were released, but many were still in detention.”
In response, some men have engaged in civil disobedience in support of the demonstrators. While some male students apparently refused to take their examinations, some 50 male university instructors at public and private colleges have resigned from their professions.
Following the US pullout from the country in August 2021, the Taliban had promised a milder administration. However, the nation’s women’s rights and liberties have continued to be reduced by radical Islamists. Since their return, demonstrations led by women have been progressively less common in Afghanistan. Participants run the risk of being detained, being attacked, and facing societal humiliation.
