Sources: Taliban to bar Afghan girls from attending universities

By: Rukhshana Media

Reliable sources say that the Taliban have decided not to allow Afghan girls to attend universities after the fall semester.

Three reliable sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say that Neda Mohammad Nadim, the Taliban’s acting minister of Higher Education, met with the Taliban Supreme Leader and discussed banning Afghan girls from going to universities in the country.

The Taliban has not officially said anything about closing universities to female students, however, a reliable source says that Neda Mohammad Nadim made this proposal to the Taliban cabinet in the first week of his mission as a Taliban acting minister for Higher Education and they said that the order should be issued by Mullah Hebatullah, the Taliban Supreme Leader.

According to the source, the Taliban leader has ordered to close the country’s universities to girls after the end of the current semester.

Meanwhile, another source tells Rukhshana Media that officials of the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, addressing the students in one of the prominent universities of the country, told the female students that they have no right to attend the universities after the ongoing semester.

The source did not reveal the name of the university due to security reasons.

The Taliban officials told them that the order was issued by Mullah Hebatullah, the Taliban’s Supreme Leader, and the female students were also threatened not to leak the news to media, according to the source.

“The reason for closing the university to girls is clear,” the source says. “Because they are against the education of women and girls.”

According to the source, another reason for closing universities to girls is the closure of girls’ schools. He adds that the question has arisen for them [the Taliban] as to why girls’ schools above sixth grade are closed and universities are open to girls.

After seizing control of Afghanistan in mid-August 15 last year, the Taliban banned girls’ schools above grade six and imposed gender segregation in the universities. Boys attend universities on odd days while girls go to universities on even days of the week.

Moreover, the Taliban has imposed extensive restrictions on the personal and social freedoms of women and girls in the country.

The Taliban intelligence arrested Zarifa Yaqubi, a women’s rights activist, and four other civil activists from a press conference in west Kabul.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, said in a press conference that they received orders from outside the country to protest in Afghanistan and create distrust against the Taliban government.

Previously, the Taliban took a written commitment from several journalists and threatened them not to cover the activities and protests of Afghan women and girls.