Ban on Female Education: Taliban minister justifies decision

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan's minister of higher education has defended his decision to forbid women from attending universities, a move that sparked protests both domestically and abroad.

The Taliban-run government in Afghanistan said this week that it has banned women from attending universities in part because female students did not adhere to its interpretation of the Islamic dress code and interacted with pupils of different genders.

On Wednesday, female university students were denied admission to campuses and were told that their access would be restricted "until further notice." In the first significant open protest in the city's history on Thursday, dozens of women gathered in front of Kabul University.

About a dozen ladies marched through the streets of the capital while yelling "freedom!" and "equality!"

 â€œAll or none. Don’t be afraid. We are together,” they chanted.

In the video obtained by The Associated Press, one woman said Taliban security forces used violence to disperse the group.

“The girls were beaten and whipped,” she said. “They also brought military women with them, whipping the girls. We ran away, some girls were arrested. I don’t know what will happen.”

By forbidding Afghan women from enrolling in institutions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed the Taliban were attempting to condemn them "to a dismal future without opportunity."

“Afghan women deserve better. Afghanistan deserves better,” he later tweeted. “The Taliban have just definitively set back their objective of being accepted by the international community.”

In his initial remarks on the subject, acting higher education minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem told Afghan state broadcaster RTA that a number of factors had led to the decision.

“We told girls to have proper hijab but they didn’t and they wore dresses like they are going to a wedding ceremony,” he said.

“Girls were studying agriculture and engineering, but this didn’t match Afghan culture. Girls should learn, but not in areas that go against Islam and Afghan honour.”

The higher education minister stated that conversations over female education were ongoing and that the Taliban "asked the world not to intervene in our affairs."

Blinken urged the Taliban to lift the embargo.

“We are engaged with other countries on this right now. There are going to be costs if this is not reversed,” the US secretary of state told a news conference, declining to provide specifics. “We will pursue them with allies and partners.”

After 20 years of conflict, US-led forces left Afghanistan in August 2021 as the militants, who uphold a strict interpretation of Islam, took control of Kabul and the previously supported by the West former government fell.

Female students have changed their clothes to comply with demands such as covering their faces and donning dark colors, according to students and instructors, who claim that since the Taliban gained control, university classes are now divided by gender.

Foreign governments had already criticized the Taliban-led government for reneging on its promise to open girls' high schools at the beginning of the academic year in March.

A letter from the education ministry on Thursday urged all educational institutions to forbid girls in grades above 6 from using their facilities, signaling a tougher implementation of the limitations on teenage girls' access to education.