Kabul: In a new development, the Taliban said that women in Afghanistan ‘will be allowed’ to study at university, although there will be a strict ban on mixed classes where men and women attend the same lectures, Taliban’s acting higher education minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani said on Sunday.
After storming back to power in Afghanistan in mid-August, the Taliban received a lot of criticism for their discriminatory rules against women. However, the hardline Islamist militant group had said that they aim to form an ”inclusive” government and will allow women all rights under the Islamic Sharia law.
“People of Afghanistan will continue their higher education in the light of Sharia law in safety without being in a mixed male and female environment,” Haqqani said during a Loya Jirga meeting with elders, news agency AFP reported.
The acting minister went on to say that the Taliban want to create “a reasonable and Islamic curriculum” that is in line with the Islamic, national and historical values while still able to compete with other countries. Interestingly, there were no women present at the meeting, the report stated.
Taliban had previously announced that girls and boys will be segregated at all primary and secondary schools, which was already a common practice in Afghanistan.
The Taliban are yet to announce a government as they await the support of national and global political leaders. During their previous reign, Taliban were brutal towards women, excluding them from public life and any form of entertainment. Anyone flouting their rules was given severe punishment and a lot of times, stoned to death.
