Home / International / Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at postgraduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory, the higher education minister in the new Taliban government said on Sunday. The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, laid out the new policies at a news conference, several days after Afghanistan’s new rulers formed an all-male government. On Saturday, the Taliban had raised their flag over the presidential palace, signalling the start of the work of the new government. The world has been watching closely to see to what extent the Taliban might act differently from their first time in power, in the late 1990s. During that era, girls and women were denied an education and were excluded from public life. The Taliban have suggested they have changed, including in their attitudes toward women. However, women have been banned from sports and the Taliban have used violence in recent days against women protesters demanding equal rights. Haqqani said the Taliban did not want to turn the clock back 20 years. “We will start building on what exists today,” he said. However, female university students will face restrictions, including a compulsory dress code. Haqqani said hijabs will be mandatory but did not specify if this meant compulsory headscarves or also compulsory face coverings. Gender segregation will also be enforced, he said. “We will not allow boys and girls to study together,” he said. “We will not allow co-education.” Read: A curtain divides male, female students as Afghan universities reopen Haqqani said the subjects being taught would also be reviewed. While he did not elaborate, he said he wanted graduates of Afghanistan’s universities to be competitive with university graduates in the region and the rest of the world. The Taliban banned music and art during their previous time in power. This time around television has remained and news channels still show women presenters, but the Taliban messaging has been erratic. In an interview on Afghanistan’s popular Tolo News, Taliban spokesman Syed Zekrullah Hashmi said women should give birth and raise children and while the Taliban have not ruled out eventual participation of women in government, the spokesman said it’s not necessary that women be in the cabinet. The Taliban seized power on Aug 15, the day they overran the capital of Kabul after capturing outlying provinces in a rapid military campaign. They initially promised inclusiveness and a general amnesty for their former opponents, but many Afghans remain deeply fearful of the new rulers. Taliban police officials have beaten Afghan journalists, violently dispersed women’s protests and formed an all-male government despite saying initially they would invite broader representation. The new higher education policy signals a change from the accepted practice before the Taliban takeover. Universities were co-ed, with men and women studying side by side, and female students did not have to abide by a dress code. However, the vast majority of female university students opted to wear headscarves in line with traditions. In elementary and high schools, boys and girls were taught separately, even before the Taliban came to power. In high schools, girls had to wear tunics reaching to their knees and white headscarves, and jeans, makeup and jewellery were not permitted.

Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at postgraduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory, the higher education minister in the new Taliban government said on Sunday. The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, laid out the new policies at a news conference, several days after Afghanistan’s new rulers formed an all-male government. On Saturday, the Taliban had raised their flag over the presidential palace, signalling the start of the work of the new government. The world has been watching closely to see to what extent the Taliban might act differently from their first time in power, in the late 1990s. During that era, girls and women were denied an education and were excluded from public life. The Taliban have suggested they have changed, including in their attitudes toward women. However, women have been banned from sports and the Taliban have used violence in recent days against women protesters demanding equal rights. Haqqani said the Taliban did not want to turn the clock back 20 years. “We will start building on what exists today,” he said. However, female university students will face restrictions, including a compulsory dress code. Haqqani said hijabs will be mandatory but did not specify if this meant compulsory headscarves or also compulsory face coverings. Gender segregation will also be enforced, he said. “We will not allow boys and girls to study together,” he said. “We will not allow co-education.” Read: A curtain divides male, female students as Afghan universities reopen Haqqani said the subjects being taught would also be reviewed. While he did not elaborate, he said he wanted graduates of Afghanistan’s universities to be competitive with university graduates in the region and the rest of the world. The Taliban banned music and art during their previous time in power. This time around television has remained and news channels still show women presenters, but the Taliban messaging has been erratic. In an interview on Afghanistan’s popular Tolo News, Taliban spokesman Syed Zekrullah Hashmi said women should give birth and raise children and while the Taliban have not ruled out eventual participation of women in government, the spokesman said it’s not necessary that women be in the cabinet. The Taliban seized power on Aug 15, the day they overran the capital of Kabul after capturing outlying provinces in a rapid military campaign. They initially promised inclusiveness and a general amnesty for their former opponents, but many Afghans remain deeply fearful of the new rulers. Taliban police officials have beaten Afghan journalists, violently dispersed women’s protests and formed an all-male government despite saying initially they would invite broader representation. The new higher education policy signals a change from the accepted practice before the Taliban takeover. Universities were co-ed, with men and women studying side by side, and female students did not have to abide by a dress code. However, the vast majority of female university students opted to wear headscarves in line with traditions. In elementary and high schools, boys and girls were taught separately, even before the Taliban came to power. In high schools, girls had to wear tunics reaching to their knees and white headscarves, and jeans, makeup and jewellery were not permitted.

September 12, 2021 International Comments Off on Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at postgraduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory, the higher education minister in the new Taliban government said on Sunday. The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, laid out the new policies at a news conference, several days after Afghanistan’s new rulers formed an all-male government. On Saturday, the Taliban had raised their flag over the presidential palace, signalling the start of the work of the new government. The world has been watching closely to see to what extent the Taliban might act differently from their first time in power, in the late 1990s. During that era, girls and women were denied an education and were excluded from public life. The Taliban have suggested they have changed, including in their attitudes toward women. However, women have been banned from sports and the Taliban have used violence in recent days against women protesters demanding equal rights. Haqqani said the Taliban did not want to turn the clock back 20 years. “We will start building on what exists today,” he said. However, female university students will face restrictions, including a compulsory dress code. Haqqani said hijabs will be mandatory but did not specify if this meant compulsory headscarves or also compulsory face coverings. Gender segregation will also be enforced, he said. “We will not allow boys and girls to study together,” he said. “We will not allow co-education.” Read: A curtain divides male, female students as Afghan universities reopen Haqqani said the subjects being taught would also be reviewed. While he did not elaborate, he said he wanted graduates of Afghanistan’s universities to be competitive with university graduates in the region and the rest of the world. The Taliban banned music and art during their previous time in power. This time around television has remained and news channels still show women presenters, but the Taliban messaging has been erratic. In an interview on Afghanistan’s popular Tolo News, Taliban spokesman Syed Zekrullah Hashmi said women should give birth and raise children and while the Taliban have not ruled out eventual participation of women in government, the spokesman said it’s not necessary that women be in the cabinet. The Taliban seized power on Aug 15, the day they overran the capital of Kabul after capturing outlying provinces in a rapid military campaign. They initially promised inclusiveness and a general amnesty for their former opponents, but many Afghans remain deeply fearful of the new rulers. Taliban police officials have beaten Afghan journalists, violently dispersed women’s protests and formed an all-male government despite saying initially they would invite broader representation. The new higher education policy signals a change from the accepted practice before the Taliban takeover. Universities were co-ed, with men and women studying side by side, and female students did not have to abide by a dress code. However, the vast majority of female university students opted to wear headscarves in line with traditions. In elementary and high schools, boys and girls were taught separately, even before the Taliban came to power. In high schools, girls had to wear tunics reaching to their knees and white headscarves, and jeans, makeup and jewellery were not permitted. 164 Views

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, along with National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf and Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, on Sunday presented a detailed dossier of war crimes and human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the foreign minister pointed out that the decision to compile the dossier was taken due to the actions of Indian authorities after the death of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and their treatment of his family.

“We decided that considering the situation there (IoK) and the kind of government’s thinking present there, we should play our role and unveil the real face of this [India] government claiming to be the world’s biggest democracy before the world,” he said.

Qureshi said there was a continuing communications blackout in IoK as independent journalists and observers were denied access, while facts were distorted and brutalities went unreported “by design”.

The foreign minister said the dossier comprised 131 pages and had three chapters: one on war crime by the Indian army and its genocidal actions, second on the disappointment of Kashmiris and how a local resistance movement is being born despite the propaganda of everything being normal, and a third chapter on how UN Security Council resolutions, international laws and humanitarian laws were being violated through efforts to bring about a demographic change in the valley.

FM Qureshi pre-empted any concerns regarding the dossier’s credibility, explaining that the majority of the references in it were from international and Indian media outlets as well as international human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Calling upon the media to examine it for itself, the foreign minister said the dossier contained details on a vast range of incidents and atrocities from war crimes, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, pellet gun injuries, rapes, over 100,000 cases of children being orphaned, search and cordon operations, false flag operations, fake encounters and planting of weapons on innocent residents to implicate them and harm the resistance movement.

Indian patronage, training of IS ‘a serious concern’

Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar, while presenting statistics and figures from the dossier, stressed that there was a “great need” to make the world aware so that action could be taken to bring an end to the grave human rights violations in IoK.

“This dossier is a step in that direction,” he said. During his brief, Iftikhar pointed out that Indian patronage and training of the militant Islamic State group was a “serious concern”. He alleged that evidence suggested India was operating five training camps in Gulmarg, Raipur, Jodhpur, Chakrata, Anupgarh and Bikaner.

“By injecting these state-trained ISIS fighters, India may try to establish linkages of the freedom movement with international terrorism in order to malign the freedom struggle and to justify its own crimes as counter-terrorist operations,” he said.

Responding to a question on the dossier’s dissemination, Qureshi said it was being printed and sent to Pakistan’s foreign missions and multiple forums, and that every method would be used to achieve “maximum circulation”.

Yusuf, the NSA, meanwhile, said: “My request would be to remember that this dossier and its timing are a tribute to Geelani sahab. His whole life was spent for this purpose (IoK’s freedom) but the struggle continues and we have to bring it to completion.”

FM Qureshi said protecting fundamental human rights was not just the state’s responsibility but there were international obligations, instruments and mechanisms to ensure their protection and that they should be fulfilled.

“The UN must compel India to allow access to special procedure mandate holders of the UN Human Rights Council for an independent investigation of human rights violations taking place in IoK,” he said.

“The UN department of peacekeeping operations must note the names of individuals and units in IoK who have been directly responsible for human rights violations. They should be identified, named and disallowed to be part of UN peacekeeping operations.”

The foreign minister presented the following five demands after the briefing:

  • India to stop human rights violations of Kashmiris
  • Action taken against perpetrators highlighted in the dossier
  • An end to demographic change
  • An end to the military and digital siege
  • Release of all political prisoners
  • Allow unhindered access in IoK to the UN, the independent permanent human rights commission of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, independent journalists, human rights organisations and civil society organisations

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