Two female protesters have filmed themselves burning photos of prominent members of the Taliban in front of a Kabul school in response to the ongoing closure of girls’ schools in Afghanistan.
In the videotapes shared on social media on Thursday, the two women introduce themselves as the Powerful Women of Afghanistan and then set fire to the photos of the Taliban leaders.
The pair demanded girls’ schools be reopened as they set fire to printed pictures of Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban supreme leader, Neda Mohammad Nadim, acting minister of higher education, and Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the acting Prime Minister of the Taliban.
At the same time, members of the Purple Saturdays protest movement in Kabul and Samangan provinces protested for women’s rights on Wednesday, calling on the United Nations to pay proper attention to the justice-seeking demonstrations of protesting women and against interacting with the Taliban.
Women have continued to protest as the BBC Persian in Panjshir reported that Sayed Habibullah Agha, acting minister of education of the Taliban, said at the inauguration of a jihadi madrasa in Panjshir province that the conditions for reopening schools for girls are “not yet favourable”. He said that when the religious scholars of Afghanistan come to a consensus on the matter, the Taliban administration will implement it.
Mr Agha’s statement about the improper conditions to reopen girls’ schools has been frequently used as an excuse by Taliban officials. There are some fears they are quietly trying to use girls’ schools as leverage to gain recognition of their government by the international community.
