Dozens of Afghan university men have left the classrooms this Wednesday as a sign of solidarity and protest after the veto announced by the Taliban on women's access to higher education in the country. The veto deprives all Afghans over the age of 12 of education, who also have the doors of secondary schools closed.
The students and professors, the majority of Medicine, have decided to suspend classes and leave the classrooms at Nangarhar University. Poignant videos have been posted online showing women leaving classrooms and being supported by male students from Nangarhar Medical College, protesting against the ban on female university education.
Images posted on Twitter show women and girls hugging each other to comfort each other and crying at the entrance to the universities on Wednesday morning after being denied access. Some were unable to take their final exams, according to complaints on social media.
Taliban security forces prevented some women from entering and allowed others to enter and finish their work. They also tried to prevent photography, filming and demonstrations from taking place. Rahimullah Nadeem, a spokesman for Kabul University, confirmed that classes for women had stopped. He said some women were allowed on campus for paperwork and administrative reasons, and four graduation ceremonies were held Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.
After twenty months of concealment, the Taliban returned to their privileges last Tuesday, and ordered the expulsion of the women from the university with immediate effect. The girls, who were the majority in many faculties in Afghanistan, both public and private, will not be able to step on them again "until further notice."
The Ministry of Higher Education, headed by Mullah Neda Mohamed Nadim, issued a brief statement urging the suspension of the admission of women to higher educational institutions without giving explanations. This veto had already occurred previously in the country's secondary education.
According to the Associated Press, members of an activist group called Afghanistan Women's Unity and Solidarity gathered outside the private Edrak University in Kabul chanting slogans such as: "Don't politicize education!" "Again, the university is prohibited for women, we don't want them to eliminate us!"
Despite initially promising a more moderate rule that would respect the rights of women and minorities, the Taliban have widely applied their interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, since taking power in August 2021.
A medical student wrote on the networks in solidarity with his colleagues and the men who have left the university: "Proud to study in Nangarhar." For her part, a university woman explained to Shamshad TV: "Last night when I found out I read the news twenty times and cried. There is no hope anymore," she concluded.
