News Desk
ISLAMABAD/KABUL: A young Afghan girl staged a solo protest in front of the Kabul University after the ruling Taliban banned women from pursuing higher education.
The 18-year-old Afghan girl, whose desire to earn a university degree had been frustrated by the Taliban’s prohibition on women from pursuing higher education, said that she did not have any fear because she believed her demand was just.
Solo protest by the brave girl
According to the BBC, the girl, whose identity was changed for her protection, staged the solo protest in front of the Kabul University, evoking verses from the Holy Quran.
Iqra, a Quranic word for reading, was written on Adela’s placard as she stood in front of the university door on December 25. According to the Islamic faith, “Iqra” was God’s first message to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
“The Almighty Allah has bestowed us the right to education,” she told the BBC Afghan service adding that “people should be afraid of Allah and not the Taliban, who want to take away their rights and liberties”.
“I was aware of how harshly they treated the protesters. They used Tasers (an electroshock weapon) and water cannons and beat and struck them with butts, but I am still standing before them.”
“Earlier, they didn’t take me seriously, but later, the gunmen asked me to leave.”
Initially, Adela refused to go. However, the armed guards around her began to focus on the paper board she was holding.
She began interacting with a Taliban member while holding the poster. She remarked: “I questioned him, ‘Can’t you read what I have written? Can’t you read the word of God? He became furious and threatened me.”
After around 15 minutes of her lone protest, her placard was taken away, and she was forced to leave. Her older sister had been sitting in a taxi while protesting, taking pictures, and filming the demonstration. “The Taliban made the cabbie quite frightened. He was begging my sister to stop filming, and he requested her to exit the vehicle out of fear of danger, ” Adela said.
Increasing restrictions on women
The Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in August 2021 after international forces led by the US left the country in haste. The Taliban initially prohibited girls from attending schools before they relaxed the ban and opened schools for lower classes.
In September this year, the Taliban warned girls they could only choose universities in their province and prohibited them from pursuing specific subjects.
The Taliban banned women from attending universities on December 20, which drew global outrage. A few days later, they also barred women staff from working for national and international NGOs.
Since then, women have been opposing the restrictions on education, particularly university-level education.
Kabul University officials told the BBC that female teachers were no longer permitted to attend the campus.
Earlier, in a live television programme, a male professor tore up his academic credentials in protest against the Taliban ban on girls and women from pursuing education. More than 50 university professors have quit in protest after the Taliban enforced the new law.
One instructor who quit his job claimed the Taliban tortured him before he withdrew his resignation.
UN statement on Taliban ban
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council stated that preventing girls and women from attending schools and universities represented a growing erosion of the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
But the Taliban seem to be unfazed. Afghan Education Minister Mullah Neda Mohammad Nadeem told the Guardian that “we will not reverse the decision even if they drop an atom bomb on us”.
Adela is still determined
“If I cannot fly, I will run. If I cannot run, I will take slow steps. If I cannot do that either, I will crawl. But I will not stop my struggle, my resistance,” she said.
Adela also believed that women in Afghanistan today were better placed to win the fight than in previous generations.
“We don’t want to go back to the dark ages of 20 years ago. We are braver than the women of that time because we are more educated and know our rights,” she said.
