Afghanistan: Will The Dreams Of Afghani Girls Under Taliban’s Rule Shatter?

On 15th August 2021, The Taliban, an Islamist fundamentalist movement took over the control of Afghanistan by conquering its capital, Kabul. This has turned the functioning of the Afghan government upside down.

Taliban’s encounter and their extreme interpretation of Islamic sharia law have severely impacted the lives of young girls and women in Afghanistan. Taliban has not only restricted women to work across the country, but also excluded girls from school during the year 1996-2001 when they held power over roughly three-quarters of Afghanistan. After the U.S led invasion toppled Taliban rule in 2001, girls began attending schools and universities and the female literacy rate has reached 30 percent by 2018.

But now everyone fears if the history repeats again. Because the girls of secondary school have to remain at home when the Taliban took control of Afghan on the 15th of August. But boys have returned to class four weeks ago. The gender discrimination which Taliban has imparted in Afghan has resulted in the rise of criticisms and fury from various parts of the country.

Again when this terrorist organization has come to power, Omar Abdi- the deputy executive director of UNICEF said at the United Nations on Friday that the Taliban would soon set up a framework that will allow girls to attend school in Afghanistan.

Why should girls have a separate framework to perform their “right to education?”

The secondary schools were allowed only for five provinces. But the UN has pressurized the Taliban to implement it throughout the country.

Now people are expecting this to happen very soon. But even if the Taliban keep their word, many people are concerned if these girls would be barred from future opportunities under the rule of these militants.

Of course, there is a point to be raised in this concern. What is the significance of education if that makes no use for these girls!

Meanwhile, girls in Afghanistan are expressing their frustration and concern that if they will be able to go to school and pursue their dreams.

The Taliban said that girls will be able to seek their education in line with “Islamic law” and insisted that girls can only have female teachers. Therefore some fear that the schooling of girls will be confined to religious education.

The girls are also not allowed to go to school and learn with boys. Girls and boys in a single classroom have been separated by placing a curtain between them.

Students attend class under new classroom conditions at Avicenna University in Kabul, Afghanistan

But a ray of hope arises when the women of Afghanistan dare to protest in the streets for their right to education, to hold jobs, and political participation. Their courageous protest and strong determination to hold their rights is the only way to get out of this crisis.

women in Afghanistan protesting for their rights

The Taliban regimes are not only shattering the dreams of young girls but also of their mothers, who thought their unfulfilled dreams could be accomplished by educating their daughters.

Unfortunately, their future and career still remain as a question mark not only for them but also to the whole world.