'Women Banned From Afghanistan Universities Because...': Taliban Justifies Diktat, Says Report

The Taliban has said that women had been banned from universities in Afghanistan because of gender mixing and 'un-Islamic' courses.

Afghan women protest against new Taliban ban on women accessing University Education on December 22, 2022 in Kabul, Afghanistan. A group of Afghan women rallied in Kabul against a governmental order banning women from universities. Armed guards barred women from accessing university sites since the suspension was announced on December 20.

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After a massive backlash from countries like the US, the UK and India, the Taliban has come up with a "clarification" on why it banned women from universities in Afghanistan.

Taliban higher education chief Nida Mohammad Nadim on Thursday said that women have been banned from universities because of gender mixing, reported news agency AP. He also said that the courses in universities violated Islamic values.

In a new diktat on December 20, the Taliban banned women from attaining university education. Earlier, it had closed secondary school education for women.

Soon after the ban, countries like the US, the UK, and India criticised the move, saying it was a blow to human rights and a step backwards. 

Spokesperson for the United States Department of State Ned Price said: “The US condemns, the Taliban’s indefensible decision to ban women from universities, to keep secondary schools closed to girls, and to continue to impose other restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday called the Taliban ban on women’s university and secondary education a “grave step backwards”. He said that the world is watching and the Taliban will be judged by their actions.  “As a father to daughters, I cannot imagine a world in which they’re denied an education. The women of Afghanistan have so much to offer. Denying them access to university is a grave step backwards. The world is watching. We will judge the Taliban by their actions,” Rishi Sunak tweeted. 

India, too, expressed concerns over the move. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated: "We have noted this with concern. India has consistently supported female education in Afghanistan. I would also like to recall UNSC resolution 2593, which upholds human rights that calls for equal participation for women."

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.