A video supposedly showing women students weeping their hearts out in a classroom went viral on various social networking sites a day after the Taliban government's higher education ministry barred female students from schools and colleges in Afghanistan.
The 23-second viral video was shared on Twitter on December 21. In a video, girls in a school can be seen sobbing after being informed of the Taliban's prohibition on female education.
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The Taliban announced the decision to restrict female education in a letter issued to universities on Tuesday, which was widely criticised by the United Nations and Western nations.
According to accounts, armed forces were stationed in large numbers outside educational institutions around the country, and female students were requested to leave.
The revelation on Tuesday has brought to the forefront the discussion about the Taliban's quick shift in policy, normalising discriminatory gender-based norms, i.e., restricting Afghan women and girls' fundamental rights.
Despite their previous promise of a more inclusive and less restrictive leadership, the Taliban has steadily decreased women's rights and freedoms since taking over the country for the second time in 20 years. Furthermore, the new judgement is consistent with "Women Literally Being Erased from Public Life in Afghanistan," according to Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan women's rights activist.
Despite their repeated vow to promote women's education earlier in March, the hardline extremist organisation reversed course, denying Afghan females above the sixth grade of their right to an education.