Male university students in Balkh have protested against the ongoing ban against girls attending university. It’s in a rare public display of solidarity from Afghan men towards women who have demonstrated on average every three days since the Taliban came to power.
“Either all or none,” the protesting students wrote in graffiti on a public wall on Sunday as they called on the Taliban to allow girls to receive an education. It’s a slogan to say that either girls are allowed to study, or no one should study.
The students at Balkh University in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province, expressed concern about the continued ban on girls education, telling Rukhshana Media that it is disastrous for the future of the country.
They also accused the Taliban of violating both the human and Islamic rights of women and girls.
Male students from Balkh University have previously protested in similar vein when they refused to attend classes at the university to protest the education bans when they were first announced. Although the Taliban’s decree at the time said girls could not attend university “until further notice”, female students are still deprived of going to university over a year later.
Despite international condemnation of the policy and widespread protests by girls in many provinces of the country, the Taliban have only doubled down on their decision to ban girls’ education and have disregarded all demands of the country’s citizens.
