By Laila Yousufy
Compulsory hijab on campuses have irked female students who say head-to-toe covering has made their lives difficult. Female students thought, their problems end once the university gates are reopened.
But it seems their troubles only began. Many girls struggle to comply with the Taliban’s strict hijab code.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has launched a large-scale campaign to encourage female students to accept their dress code. Posters of burqa-clad, and black-covered women are visible on the walls, and doors of the public universities.
“Woman must observe hijab in line with Islamic Sharia,” one posters which shows a woman wearing full cover, reads.
Mahtab, 23, an architecture student at Polytechnic Engineering University, said she once had put on a colorful raincoat on a rainy day when she went to the university.
“I was not allowed to enter the university,” she said. “I had to go home.”
“This situation is disappointing,” she added.
Female students are even sometimes scolded for laughing loudly on campus.
“Why are you laughing?” Roya, 23, a female student at Kabul University, said she was told by a Talib fighter who walked by when she and her friends were chatting and laughing on campus. “You have no right to laugh loudly anymore. I will close the university gate if you do so.”
Roya said she isn’t used to long dresses, and she can’t walk properly when she wears them.
“I am feeling like I am falling on the ground,” she added.
Roya said she doesn’t like to see those posters dictating women to what to wear. “Students say they should be given the right to choose their clothing,” she added.
Roya isn’t alone. Many female students disagree with compulsory hijab.
“When I look at these posters, it feels like we have returned to the decade of burqa and whipping,” said Marie, 23, another student of one of Kabul universities, referring to Taliban’s first rule in the 1990s. “Universities have become more like religious schools rather than academic institutions.”
Compulsory hijab is not the only problem. Students complain about the presence of the Taliban fighters on campuses which they say isn’t so pleasant.
Girls’ hostels are also emptier now.
“There are fewer girls in the hostel compared to previous years,” said Zohal, a Kabul university student from Ghazni province. “We do not have food and facilities. I do not feel safe. I’m looking for a room outside the university.”
Male and female students attend classes during different times and shifts.
“We have lectures in the morning and we are not allowed to be in the university in the afternoon,” said Sohaila, 24 who is doing her last semester. “I cannot use the library to write my dissertation work.”
