The ministry stated it had obtained “critical complaints” about feminine workers working for NGOs not sporting the “appropriate” headband, or hijab. It was not instantly clear if the order applies to all girls or solely Afghan girls working on the NGOs.
Extra particulars weren’t instantly obtainable on the newest Taliban ban amid considerations that it may very well be a stepping-stone to extra restrictive measures towards girls in Afghanistan.
Additionally Saturday, Taliban safety forces used a water cannon to disperse girls protesting the ban on college training for ladies within the western metropolis of Herat, eyewitnesses stated. The Taliban rulers on Tuesday banned feminine college students from attending universities efficient instantly.
Afghan girls have since demonstrated in main cities towards the ban, a uncommon signal of home protest because the Taliban seized energy final 12 months. The choice has additionally induced outrage and opposition in Afghanistan and past.
In response to eyewitnesses in Herat, about two dozen girls had been heading to the provincial governor’s home Saturday to protest the ban, chanting: “Training is our proper,” once they had been pushed again by safety forces firing the water cannon.
Video shared with the AP exhibits the ladies screaming and hiding in a facet road to flee the water cannon. They then resume their protest, with chants of “Disgraceful!”
One of many protest organizers, Maryam, stated between 100 and 150 girls took half within the protest, transferring in small teams from totally different components of town towards a central assembly level. She didn’t give her final identify for concern of reprisals.
“There was safety on each road, each sq., armored automobiles and armed males,” she stated. “After we began our protest, in Tariqi Park, the Taliban took branches from the bushes and beat us. However we continued our protest. They elevated their safety presence. Round 11 a.m. they introduced out the water cannon.”
A spokesman for the provincial governor, Hamidullah Mutawakil, claimed there have been solely four-five protesters.
“They’d no agenda, they simply got here right here to make a movie,” he stated, with out mentioning the violence towards the ladies or the usage of the water cannon.
There was widespread worldwide condemnation of the college ban, together with from Muslim-majority international locations comparable to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, in addition to warnings from america and the G-7 group of main industrial nations that the coverage may have penalties for the Taliban.
An official within the Taliban authorities, Minister of Greater Training Nida Mohammad Nadim, spoke concerning the ban for the primary time on Thursday in an interview with the Afghan state tv.
He stated the ban was obligatory to stop the blending of genders in universities and since he believes some topics being taught violated the rules of Islam. He additionally added the ban can be in place till additional discover.
Regardless of initially promising a extra average rule respecting rights for ladies and minorities, the Taliban have extensively applied their interpretation of Islamic legislation, or Sharia, since they seized energy in August 2021.
They’ve banned women from center faculty and highschool — and now universities — and likewise barred girls from most fields of employment. Ladies have additionally been ordered to put on head-to-toe clothes in public and have been banned from parks and gymnasiums.
The Afghan society, whereas largely conventional, had more and more embraced the training of women and girls over the previous 20 years of a U.S.-backed authorities.
Within the southwestern Pakistani metropolis of Quetta, dozens of Afghan refugee college students protested on Saturday towards the ban on feminine larger training of their homeland and demanded the fast reopening of campuses for ladies.
One among them, Bibi Haseena, learn a poem depicting the grim state of affairs for Afghan women looking for an training. She stated was sad about graduating outdoors her nation when lots of of 1000’s of her Afghan sisters had been being disadvantaged of an training.