• Taliban arrests women participating in anti-university admissions rally in Kabul.
• Some 50 male university instructors in Afghanistan have quit their jobs.
• The Taliban had promised a milder administration after the US withdrawal.

Five women who were participating in an anti-university admissions rally in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, were detained by the Taliban.

Additional arrests included three journalists. It is said that there were protests in the province of Takhar as well.

On Wednesday, one day after the ban was issued, guards barred hundreds of women from visiting institutions.

Since the Taliban took back power last year, this policy has restricted women’s access to higher education.

Most secondary schools currently prohibit girls from attending.

On Tuesday, the higher education minister announced a new prohibition that will take effect right away and forbid women from enrolling in public and private universities.

The education ministry said its scholars had evaluated the university curriculum and environment, and attendance for girls would be suspended “until a suitable environment” was provided.

On Thursday, video that was shared on social media showed about 20 Afghan women wearing hijabs walking through Kabul’s streets while holding banners and yelling slogans.

The gathering originally intended to congregate in front of Kabul University, the largest and most prestigious academic institution in the nation, but they moved after the government stationed a sizable security force there.

According to several protesting women who spoke to the Media, female Taliban officers battered or arrested them.

One of the demonstrators told the Media that she was “badly battered” but just avoided being arrested.

“There were too many Taliban female members among us,” the woman said under the condition of anonymity.

“They beat some of our girls and arrested some others. They were about to take me too but I managed to escape. But, I was beaten badly.”

Another demonstrator reported that although several people were still in jail, two persons had been freed since being detained.

In response, some men have engaged in civil disobedience in support of the demonstrators. While some male students apparently refused to take their examinations, some 50 male university instructors at public and private colleges have resigned from their professions.

Following the US pullout from the country in August 2021, the Taliban had promised a milder administration. However, the nation’s women’s rights and liberties have continued to be reduced by radical Islamists.

Since their return, demonstrations led by women have been progressively less common in Afghanistan. Participants run the risk of being detained, being attacked, and facing societal humiliation.

Universities had long been operating under laws that discriminated against women before Tuesday’s announcement.

There were separate entrances for men and women, and older men or women could only teach the female students. Additionally, they may only apply for a certain number of subjects.

The rate of female enrollment in higher education climbed 20 times between 2001, the year the Taliban were overthrown by US involvement, and 2018, according to Unesco, the UN organization for education and culture.

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