Outcry over Taliban’s ban on women’s university education

The Taliban’s closure of universities to women has sparked shock and anger in Afghanistan where many have been trying to cope with their lives that have been upended.

According to Afghan broadcaster, Amu, male medical students of Nangarhar University on Wednesday walked out of their classes in solidarity with female students.

At least two university lecturers from Kabul and Kunduz universities announced their resignation on social media in protest.

On Tuesday, the Taliban’s higher education ministry announced that women were banned from having university education until further notice without giving any explanation.

Girls have also been banned from attending secondary schools since the Taliban took over in August 2021.

Social media videos showed women crying and hugging each other at the gate of universities on Wednesday morning after they were denied access to their classes.

“When I saw the news last night I read it up to 20 times and cried; there is no hope anymore,” one affected student of a private university told local broadcaster, Shamshad TV.

Human Rights Watch called it a “shameful decision,” while foreign diplomats said they were shocked and called on the hardliners to reverse course.

“I was in my first year of medical college when Taliban took power in 1996. It looked like a nightmare when they announced ban on girls education the same day.

“Who is responsible for reverse of my country into the Stone Age?,” well-known Afghan women’s rights activist, Fawzia Koofi, wrote on Twitter.