The Taliban again backtracked on its promises and left Afghanistan’s school girls and women in despair as a new report claimed it refused the travel of the country’s females to Kazakhstan and Qatar for their higher studies. According to the sources of the Russian news agency Sputnik, only male students are allowed to leave the national capital, Kabul. Further, it claimed that the “all-men” administration barred female students from flying out of Afghanistan for studies.
The grim development came nearly six months after the Taliban regime had closed the doors of schools for girls beyond the sixth grade. While the Taliban initially had announced that education in Afghanistan would be “available for all”. However, two days later in March this year, it took a U-turn over its own decision and ordered schools to not admit girls beyond the sixth grade, despite international condemnation.
Each time the Taliban introduced a contentious decree for women, it cited ‘Sharia law’ behind its decision. Sharia is a religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition and is derived from the religious precepts of Islam. It is based on the interpretations of the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. Remarkably, at the time Taliban barred women from education above sixth grade, even Muslim-dominated countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman condemned the group’s actions and urged them to immediately alter their decision.
‘Bogus promises’ for women
It is worth mentioning after taking over the leadership of the country, the Taliban made tall claims suggesting that they have changed completely as compared to their previous iron-clad rule in the 1990s. The extremist group had initially promised to allow education and jobs for women. However, instead of fulfilling their promises, the Taliban barred women from educational institutions and working. Ever since the horrifying takeover in August last year, women across the country have taken to the streets to protest against the closure of schools and colleges.
Despite all the claims, the Taliban regime did not appear to take any concrete steps to restore fundamental rights. In May, the Taliban passed a controversial decree ordering all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. The decree also mentioned that male relatives would face punishment, starting with a summons and escalating up to court hearings and jail time, for women’s dress code violations. According to the recently passed law, if a woman violates the ruling, the male member of her family will be jailed for at least three days.
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