Taliban shouldn’t be recognised if they don’t recognise women’s rights: Malala
March 27, 2022 03:43 PM
Pakistani Nobel peace laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai has declared that a ban on girls going to schools in Afghanistan “will not last forever.”
During a Doha Forum panel discussion on ‘Prospects for Women and Girls in Afghanistan’ held in Qatar, the 24-year-old emphasised that now that Afghan women know what it feels like to be “empowered” and educated, it is hard to take that away from them.
They won’t back down, said Malala, who has dedicated her life to fighting for women’s basic right to education.
“I think it was much easier for the Taliban to implement a ban on girls’ education back in 1996,” Yousafzai told Doha Forum, adding “It is much harder this time, that is because women have seen what it means to be educated, what it means to be empowered. This time is going to be much harder for the Taliban to maintain the ban on girls’ education.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBLorr96Sg8
The current acting Afghan government stopped girls from attending schools during their previous rule in 1996, but the ban was later revoked after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. After they regained power last August the group promised education will continue for all, but girls were later stopped at the gates.
Prominent women were all gathered on the panel to discuss what the future of Afghanistan will look like if all the nation’s women had access to quality education, and what such a ban means to the region.
All panelists, including religious scholar Dr Omar Suleiman, Middle East Political Analyst Dalia Fahmy, right activist Fawzia Koof, and political leader Fatima Gailani all agreed that banning girls from attending schools in Afghanistan has no religious ground.
When asked about whether the Quran has any verse that bans women’s education, Dr Suleiman answered with one word: no. The scholar, however, highlighted that is important to focus not only on Afghani women but women globally who continue to face discrimination because of their faith and gender.