Kabul: Days after assuring that women’s rights will be respected in Afghanistan, Taliban officials have banned boys and girls from studying together in government and private universities in the restive Herat province. They described it as “the root of all evil in the society”.
After a meeting between university professors, owners of private institutions, and Taliban officials, the decision was taken, Khama Press news agency reported on Saturday. This is the Taliban’s first ‘fatwa’ since its sudden capture of power in Afghanistan last week. Zabihullah Mujahid, a longtime Taliban spokesman, appeared in public for the first time on Tuesday and promised that the Taliban would respect women’s rights under Islamic law.
In a three-hour meeting with university professors and owners of private educational institutions, Taliban representative and Afghanistan’s head of higher education, Mullah Farid, said there was no alternative and that boys and girls should end their studies. He also said that women teachers would be allowed to teach only female students and not male students. Farid described co-education as the ‘root of all evil in the society.
Academics said the decision will not affect government universities, but private institutions will have to struggle, which are already grappling with the shortage of female students. Herat has 40,000 students and 2,000 lecturers in private and government universities and colleges according to official estimates.
