The Taliban’s inhuman order doesn’t allow senior Afghan girls to attend school
It is so much easier for an Afghan girl to die of hunger or sexual exploitation than attend school. The Taliban, true to their colour, have reneged on their promise to allow girls to continue with secondary and high school education. Thousands of girls who were ready to attend grade six or above on the first day of the new school year were shocked this week when told to stay home instead. It was a typical Taliban decree. “What is our crime? That we are girls?” There is nobody to hear them wail. Girls still manage to go to school till the sixth grade, though. The Taliban have not indicated when the higher classes will be open for girls. The general assumption is that the Taliban were under pressure from the rural Afghan tribes which are the backbone of the Taliban movement. These tribes provide armed fighters for the organisation. The tribals are extremely conservative, patriarchal and believe women and girls have no duties outside of their homes. One can only speculate what happens now. Will the Taliban shut the doors for senior girl students? Or will they be asked to come to school in regressive attire, covering their bodies except for their eyes? The girls are willing to even wear ‘burqas’; that is how eager they are to attend school. But the Taliban may also insist that girls should be taught only by women teachers, well aware they are scarce.
The international community had warned the Taliban last year that the recognition of their Government would depend on, among other things, women being free to return to jobs and girls to school. The latest Taliban order is inhuman and against all norms of civil society. The international community has to do more than issue statements of protest. The world must realise the true extent of gender inequality in Afghanistan. We all know the facts; we rarely act on them. Over half of the country’s girls do not attend schools because their parents or communities force them to stay home. The legal age for marriage is 16 but most girls are married off when they enter their teens. That is the primary reason why they cannot be in school. Most girls in their early teens are sexually exploited or harassed. In a country where sons are preferred, many girls die of hunger in the rural areas where development and food are a trickle. In conservative Afghanistan, they simply do not have schools for girls. After the Taliban Government was removed from power in 2001, girls began to attend schools and adopted western ideas of education and employment. However, that was largely limited to the urban and suburban areas. The return of the Taliban ended that practice. The world cannot expect girls to fight the orthodox cultural norms on their own. They do not mind their tears so long as the world pays more than in helping them go to school.