Women in Afghanistan comment on life under the Taliban

Restrictions on Afghan women’s rights have intensified since the Taliban took power on August 15, 2021. However, in recent days, extremists seem more determined to make life difficult for women in the country. After reversing the permission teens gave to enter high school, airlines operating in the country will only allow women to board with a male relative.

with information from Sonia Ghazaliagree RFI In Islamabad, AFP

Last Tuesday night (21), 15-year-old student Diana slept happily as she thought about going back to school, scheduled for the next day. Earlier last week, the Taliban announced that girls would be able to return to secondary schools from March 23, after a seven-month ban.

Diana said RFI Since she can no longer attend classes, she spends her days confined to the house, doing nothing. Last Wednesday, she took off her old school uniform: a long black dress and white veil that she wore over her hair, tied in a ponytail.

However, upon arriving at school, the young woman was surprised by a series of new rules. In the classroom, the teacher told the girls that the uniform would be longer, completely hide the girls’ bodies, and that hijab The greatest will completely cover their hair and head.

“She told us that the priority of a woman is to raise children,” Diana says. “After that task is done, we can then think about work.”

‘Hopeless for the future’

Two hours after classes began, a new surprise appeared: the school whistles sounded and the students were told to go home. they They are no longer allowed to attend classes until a new decision is issued.

“We left the classroom and sat in front of the school gate and cried,” Diana says. “Our happiness lasted only two hours. We are desperate and desperate for the future.”

A grief also shared by Afghan teachers. Bibi Zainab Sadat, who teaches Persian literature at a secondary school in Kabul, said: RFI who felt ashamed to be informed of the extremists’ decision.

“I couldn’t say anything, I just cried. The Taliban did an unforgivable act, and they buried the hopes of the girls of the country,” he says.

In the profession for 15 years, she describes a feeling of powerlessness in the face of the system. “I hate being a woman and I hope no more girls are born here,” she says. “It’s better to kill them than to let them grow up in such a humiliating way.”

Unaccompanied travel is not allowed

So far, no explanation has been given to the girls about the abolition of back to school. The country’s Ministry of Education has only indicated that girls’ education is adapted to Islamic law and Afghan traditions and culture.

Fundamentalists have enacted laws to limit women’s rights since they took power. Afghan women have already been excluded from political life and public office. Moreover, they are also required to dress according to a strict interpretation of the Qur’an.

Since last Thursday (24), the Taliban has decided that women can only board planes accompanied by a male relative. The decision came after a meeting last week between representatives of the regime, the only two airlines still operating in Afghanistan, and immigration authorities.

Two travel agents have confirmed that they have stopped issuing tickets to women alone. Passengers who traveled between Kabul and Islamabad on a Kam Air plane last Friday (25) also witnessed Afghans being denied boarding because they were unaccompanied.

The Taliban had already banned citizens from traveling by road if the journey was longer than 72 kilometres., but so far they have been allowed to board planes. It is not yet clear whether the rule also applies to foreign women, but local media reported that an Afghan woman holding a US passport was banned from travel last week.