RASC News Agency: Sultan Barkat, the head of the Conflict Studies and Humanitarian Center in Doha and a university professor, sharply criticized the ongoing ban on girls’ education by the Taliban in Afghanistan, asserting that the commencement of a new academic year without girls present indicates the group’s inability to facilitate their return to schools.
Barkat articulated these views in an article published on Tuesday, Apr 2, on the English website of Al Jazeera. He contended that Taliban leaders should be held accountable for imposing “ignorance and illiteracy” upon Afghanistani girls in the eyes of God, adding that the persistent denial of education to girls, justified by the goal of fostering a gender-segregated society, is contradictory. Reflecting on the deprivation of girls’ education during the Taliban’s prior rule in Afghanistan, Barkat noted that this time the Afghanistani populace has placed trust in this group.
Nevertheless, Barkat underscored that the Taliban’s failure to offer educational opportunities to Afghanistani girls sends a clear message to the world that this group is not reliable. In addition to imposing other restrictions, the Taliban have prohibited girls above the sixth grade from attending schools and universities following their seizure of power.
This move by the Taliban has elicited widespread reactions, yet the group has consistently failed to provide a valid rationale for lifting this ban either today or tomorrow.
