In a rare and bold public statement, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, acting deputy foreign minister of the Taliban, called on the leadership to reopen schools for Afghan girls. This is one of the strongest internal rebukes to the Taliban’s restrictive policies on women’s education, which have contributed to the regime’s growing international isolation.
He is appealing for a retraction on a ban on girls’ schooling recently in one of his speeches when Stanekzai urged Taliban leadership to unban girls from attending school arguing the move against them is out of line with the Islamic Sharia Law. “We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education,” he said, according to local broadcaster Tolo, referring to the Taliban’s name for its administration.
Stanekzai addressed the injustice perpetrated against Afghan women, referring to the female population of Afghanistan, about 20 million. He was of the view that the persistent denial of girls’ education cannot be justified before the principles of justice and equality in Islam because it was done during the days of the Prophet Muhammad.
“In the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women,” he said. “Today, out of a population of forty million, we are committing injustice against twenty million people,” he added, referring to the female population of Afghanistan.
Divided Taliban Leadership
Stanekzai’s statements reveal growing fissures inside the Taliban’s top ranks on the matter of female education. Officials affiliated with the Taliban and diplomats had said before that the emir, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has been a staunch supporter of school closures despite internal objections. Stanekzai’s public criticism seems to indicate some discomfort among members of the ranks about policies that have provoked such an uproar within Afghanistan and globally.
International Criticism and Isolation
The Taliban’s ban on girls’ education has brought much criticism from the international community, including the Islamic world, with many calling it a gross violation of human rights and an infringement on Islamic teachings regarding the education of men and women. The international community has made it clear that any hopes of formally recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan are contingent upon changes to their policies, particularly those that restrict the rights of women and girls.
In 2022, the Taliban reversed a sharp turn on promises to reopen high schools for girls, an action widely criticized. Since then, they claimed that they were working on a plan to reopen schools but could not give a timeline. In addition, the Taliban closed universities to female students by the end of 2022, further raising backlash from the global community.
