‘Islam first’: Taliban chancellor bars women from Kabul University

The new Taliban-appointed
chancellor of the Kabul University has announced that women will not be
allowed to attend classes or work in any capacity in the campus “until an Islamic
environment is created”. The move comes as another blow to women’s rights in
Afghanistan as the Taliban tighten restrictions on their public life.

“I give you
my words as chancellor of Kabul University. As long as a real Islamic
environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to
universities or work. Islam first,” Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat tweeted on Monday.

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He earlier
tweeted that the university is charting plans to include teaching female students
as well, but did not specify by when those plans will be enacted by.

“Due to
shortage of female lecturers, we are working on a plan for male lecturers to be
able to teach female students from behind a curtain in the classroom. That way
an Islamic environment would be created for the female students to get
education,” he said on Twitter.

His appointment
as the chancellor of Afghanistan’s premier university was met with widespread
criticism as questions were raised over his credentials for the role, according
to CNN. However, Ghairat – who has described the country’s schools as “centres
for prostitution” – hit back at those critics on Twitter, saying he was “fully
qualified to hold this chair.”

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The new policy
for the Kabul University is in line with those the Taliban had enforced during
their first time in power in the 1990s, when women were only allowed in public
if accompanied by a male relative and would be beaten for disobedience. Women
were also completely barred from schools and universitites, New York Times noted.

The new
policy has been met with stiff opposition from some of the university’s female
staff members, who have been working with relative freedom over the last two
decades, as they question the Taliban’s monopoly on defining the Islamic faith.

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“In this
holy place, there was nothing un-Islamic. Presidents, teachers, engineers and
even mullahs are trained here and gifted to society. Kabul University is the
home to the nation of Afghanistan,” a female lecturer told NYT on the condition
of anonymity.

After seizing
power in August, Taliban officials insisted that women will be allowed to live
more freely, promising they will be allowed to study, work and even participate
in the government. However, none of that has happened yet, with Taliban naming
an all-male cabinet, whole citing security concerns to prohibit women from
returning to workplace.