Dozens of Afghan women protest against the closure of their schools within days of their reopening

An unusual female demonstration has toured this Saturday morning Gardez, capital of the Afghan province of Paktia.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
10 September 2022 Saturday 08:30
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Dozens of Afghan women protest against the closure of their schools within days of their reopening

An unusual female demonstration has toured this Saturday morning Gardez, capital of the Afghan province of Paktia. The students were protesting against the closure of their schools, five of which had been reopened since August 20, following a pact between clan chiefs and local Taliban warlords. This agreement has been rejected by the authorities of the Islamic Emirate, who have apologized for the "error" and have proceeded to close it.

The images of the spontaneous protest of dozens of students have filled the networks. "Why are you sending us back home? We are oppressed!", A girl is heard sobbing, behind the protection of the mask and veil, while her companions nod, with their faces uncovered. The protest, through the streets of Gardez, has developed without incident.

Paktia, in eastern Afghanistan and not far from the Pakistani city of Peshawar, is a Pashtun province, an ethnic group to which almost all the Taliban belong. Something that makes the sign of rejection even more relevant. In other provinces in the north and west of the country, with different demographics, it is more common for public schools to have opened their classrooms to adolescent girls. They are also generally open to those under twelve years of age and to university students. While in the case of private schools, the classrooms are open for girls of any age.

The outrage inside and outside Afghanistan is growing, because the Taliban have broken their word to reopen before the summer all female public classrooms, from sixth to twelfth grade (from 12 to 18 years old). They had promised to do so, after enforcing strict gender segregation, but are now clinging to the need to standardize uniforms and other vague excuses for not doing so.

They are more likely to keep this last card, that of female education, in their diplomatic negotiations. The presentation of this as a concession extracted from the Taliban would make its eventual recognition, implicit if not explicit, more palatable for the gallery. In fact, no country has yet dared to formally recognize the interim government of the victors of the Afghan war, even though more than a dozen have reopened their embassies in Kabul. Likewise, the officials who continue in their posts in the Afghan delegations around the world are still those of the extinct previous regime.