Afghan Taliban detain women protesting the university’s ban

Five women participating in an anti-university admissions rally in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, were detained by the Taliban.

Also detained were three journalists. It is said that there were protests in the Takhar province as well.

On Wednesday, a day after the ban was issued, security staff stopped hundreds of women from visiting campuses.

This law is the newest to restrict women’s access to higher education since the Taliban retook power last year.

Girls are currently not allowed to attend the majority of secondary schools.

On Tuesday, the higher education minister announced a new prohibition that will take effect immediately and forbid women from enrolling in public and private universities.

According to the education ministry, after a review of the university’s curriculum and environment, girls’ attendance would be suspended until “a proper environment” was created.

Later, the Taliban’s minister of higher learning, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, said on state television that women were forbidden from attending universities because they did not adhere to the 

clothing code.

They gave the impression that they were guests at a wedding.

On Thursday, the video shared on social media showed roughly a dozen Afghan women wearing hijabs walking through Kabul’s streets while holding banners and yelling slogans.

The largest and most prestigious university in the nation, Kabul University, was where the group had originally intended to congregate. Still, once the authorities stationed a huge number of security personnel there, they moved.

Several protesting women have informed that female Taliban officers battered or detained them.

Under the condition of anonymity, the woman claimed, “There were too many Taliban women among us.”

“While others were imprisoned, some of our girls were beaten. They were about to take me as well, but I got away. But I took a lot of beating.”

Another demonstrator reported that although several people were still in jail, two persons had been free since being detained.

In reaction, some males have joined the protesters by engaging in civil disobedience. In both public and private universities, some 50 male instructors have resigned, and several male students reportedly chose not to take their exams.