Devastation for Afghan female students denied education

• Taliban had suspended university education for all Afghan women.
• Armed Taliban guards turned away every female student at Kabul campus.
• The Taliban’s decision on Tuesday was the latest in its savage onslaught on Afghan women’s freedoms since August 2021.

The 21-year-old had spent weeks studying for her first-year university finals.

She had two tests left when she heard the Taliban had suspended university education for all Afghan women.

She told CNN on Wednesday, “I didn’t stop studying.” I went to college anyway.

No good. Armed Taliban guards turned away every female student at her Kabul, Afghanistan, campus.

She said, “It was horrible.” “Most girls, including myself, were crying and demanding to go in… “What if you lost all your rights and couldn’t do anything?”

CNN is protecting the student’s identity.

The Taliban’s decision on Tuesday was the latest in its savage onslaught on Afghan women’s freedoms since August 2021.

The insurgent organization has frequently stated it will preserve girls’ and women’s rights, but it has done the opposite, stripping them of the liberties they’ve battled for for 20 years.

Girls were banned from secondary schools in March, one of its most notable restrictions. Many students and their families lost their goals of becoming doctors, teachers, or engineers.

Losing her education shocked the Kabul student more than bomb strikes and bloodshed.

She believed that education might help overcome grief and fear. This is different. It’s inexcusable.

Many foreign leaders and influential Afghans urged the Taliban to reverse its decision.

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani labeled the Taliban illegitimate rulers holding “the entire population prisoner” on Twitter.

“The current dilemma of women’s education and job in the country is really serious, terrible, and cruel,” Ghani wrote. If one girl becomes literate, she changes five future generations, and if she continues illiterate, she destroys five.

He called Afghanistan’s protesters “pioneers.”

Afghan female students think their school futures are uncertain.

The Kabul student stated, “I’m still hopeful things will return to normal, but I don’t know when.” Many girls, including me, are wondering what to do next.

She said she would consider leaving if Afghanistan continued restricting female pupils.

Maryam, 21, knows the risks of pursuing school as a woman. As a high school student, she was evacuated “as bullets flew over our heads” during an attack on Kabul University.

In September, she barely survived a suicide bombing at a Kabul education facility that murdered at least 25 individuals, mostly young women. Dozens of women protested the attack in Kabul.

Maryam missed the bomb by seconds. She ran into her classroom to find her friends dead.

Each brush with death solidified her commitment to achieve her own objectives and her “best friends’ dreams”

After the September bombing, she was accepted into a bachelor’s degree but decided to suspend her plans for a year to restore the education center. She wanted to inspire girls to finish school.

Tuesday’s announcement dashed such hopes.

“I’m confused.” “I’m lost,” she told CNN. Since last night, I’ve imagined every buddy killed in the Kaaj attack. “Why did they sacrifice?”

“We’ve sacrificed much for education. It’s our best hope for the future.

Also Read

Tears and outrage as Afghan Taliban close women universities

Wednesday, Kabul women protested the ruling. Taliban officials promptly put an end...