KABUL —
About two dozen girls and women chanting “open the schools” protested in the
Afghan capital Saturday against the Taliban’s decision to shut their secondary
schools just hours after reopening them this week.
اضافة اعلان
Thousands of jubilant girls across
Afghanistan had
flocked to learning institutions on Wednesday — the date the education ministry
had set for classes to resume.
But just hours into the first day, the ministry
announced a shock policy reversal that left youngsters saying they felt
betrayed and foreign governments expressing outrage.
“Open the schools! Justice, justice!” chanted
protesters Saturday, some carrying school books as they gathered at a city
square in
Kabul.
They held banners that said: “Education is our
fundamental right, not a political plan” as they marched for a short distance
and later dispersed as Taliban fighters arrived at the scene.
The protest was the first held by women in weeks
after the Taliban rounded up the ringleaders of initial demonstrations held
after they returned to power in August.
The Islamists have not given a clear reason for
their decision, which came after a meeting late Tuesday of senior officials in
the southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban’s de facto power center and
spiritual heartland.
It followed months of work by some foreign countries
on a plan to support the payment of teachers’ wages.
Afghan secondary school girls have now been out of
education for more than seven months.
“Even the Prophet (Mohammed) said everyone has the
right to education, but the Taliban have snatched this right from us,” said
youngster Nawesa at the demonstration, which was organized by two women’s
rights groups.
“The Taliban cannot oppress the women of Afghanistan,”
said another protester, Laila Basim.
Since returning to power on August 15 the Taliban
have rolled back two decades of gains made by the country’s women, who have
been squeezed out of many government jobs, barred from travelling alone, and ordered
to dress according to a strict interpretation of the Quran.
The Taliban had promised a softer version of the
harsh
Islamist rule that characterized their first stint in power from 1996 to
2001.
But many restrictions have still been imposed — if
not at the national level then implemented locally at the whim of regional
officials.
Some Afghan women initially pushed back against the
Taliban’s curbs, holding small protests where they demanded the right to
education and work.
But the
Taliban soon rounded up the ringleaders,
holding them incommunicado while denying that they had been detained.
Since their release, most have gone silent.
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