The Pits Of Regression

Desperation is on the rise among women in Afghanistan who find the noose tightening around them with the Taliban regime introducing one restrictive rule after another. Barred from most workplaces and now tertiary education, the country is increasingly becoming a prison for them.

The Taliban Government’s recent order to bar women students from university education deserves to be condemned in severest terms. Women students were returned from the gates of universities on Thursday. The latest move signals the Kabul regime’s return to policies designed to suppress women’s right to education. A few months ago the Taliban disallowed women’s employment in a variety of sectors and ordered them to be dressed in head-to-toe clothing a la shuttlecock burqas once prevalent in the conservative society.

Earlier to this, yet another demarche had restrained them from parks and gyms. While several governments around the world have condemned the move, India has stopped short of condemnation. External Affairs Ministry’s spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday merely expressed concern while noting that the Government of India emphasizes on an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of all Afghans and ensures the equal rights of women….including access to higher education. One expected the official reaction to have been couched in harsher terms as even Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have condemned the strictures.

The move plumbs new depths of regression by pointing to a return to atavistic tendencies of denying freedom, equality, human rights and space to women so crucial for security, balanced development and stability of society. The move is all likely to trigger questions about legitimacy of Afghanistan’s membership of the international community at a time when a large chunk of Afghan society is suffering from hunger and deserves humanitarian aid. It would only worsen the crisis into which Afghanistan has descended following takeover of the nation by the Taliban who are bent upon showing their back to norms of civility, gender justice, equality and human rights. The international community’s silence will only embolden them.

Earlier to this, the Taliban had segregated the sections for male and female students in tertiary education. Male teachers were barred from teaching girls. Strict rules have been introduced to regulate women’s dress, behavior and movement.

Taxi drivers are not supposed to carry lone women. Women undertaking journey beyond three hours are supposed to be accompanied by a mehram (male chaperone), a rule that even Saudi Arabia does not enforce on Hajj pilgrims. Even the Ministry for Women’s welfare was dismantled and replaced by Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Some sections of Taliban are learnt to be opposed to such restrictions but have chosen to remain silent, lest they attract the wrath of hardcore elements holding the reins of power.

With restrictions for Afghan women turning horrific by each hour, the International community’s push to normalize relations with the Taliban should insist on restoration of women’s rights in order to be eligible for foreign funding and aid.