Blanket ban on education for girls and women

Hopes that this Taliban regime would be different than the one from 1996–2001 have been dashed by the sweeping ban on girls’ and women’s education, other decisions that effectively banish women from public life in Afghanistan, 

• The return of public executions and flogging as punishments in accordance with Sharia law.Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are not allowed to attend school as a result of the ban.
• On September 18, 2021, a month after assuming power and two weeks after the last American and NATO troops departed the country, the Taliban for the first time declared a ban on girls attending secondary schools, claiming it was a “temporary suspension.”

Why is Taliban ban on women education in the news recently? 

• December 20– : Women were allowed to attend the institutions and universities that the Taliban had gender-segregated, along with revisions to the timetable that reflected this.
• Secondary Education Outlawed-: Younger girls from families with means attended “courses” in for-profit private institutions after secondary education was outlawed last year.
• Islami Classes – Madrassas madrassas also offered “Islami” classes. In order for girls to at least retain what they had previously learned in school, a network of underground “hidden” schools arose.

Bringing back the Taliban of the 1990s by forbidding women from attending universities

Despite the fact that basic and elementary schools were still operating, the prohibition on secondary education had a chilling effect on them and was in fact total.

Countries Recognizing Taliban Rule – 

The three nations that previously recognised the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan have denounced the ban. Indonesia, Turkey, and Qatar have all questioned the restriction. Some nations claim that preventing women from receiving an education is against Islam.

World is Outraged by Taliban’s action of Banning Women of Education – 

The Taliban, however, seem unconcerned, showing the limits of the international community’s influence over them and what it can do to force them to respect the human right of women to an education.

• German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock cautioned the Taliban’s “gender persecution may amount to a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute, to which Afghanistan is a State Party,” in a joint statement from the G7 foreign ministers opposing their decision.

• Government of India has expressed its “concern” and reaffirmed its commitment to a “inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of all Afghans and ensures the equal rights of women and girls to participate in all aspects of Afghan society, including access to higher education.
• A total of 15 nations, with varying degrees of diplomatic representation in Kabul, have been negotiating with the Taliban, including Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbours and India, China, Russia, Pakistan, the US (via Qatar). 
• No nation has recognizing  the Taliban– Depending upon Kabul administration fulfilling prerequisites like granting women and girls equal access to education and establishing an inclusive and representative government.

How can other member states of UN , pressurize the Taliban’s in Afghanistan?

The Taliban are desperate for recognition on a global scale, but they have demonstrated that they won’t meet the requirements and instead plan to gain from regional rivalries and the struggle for control in Afghanistan.

India’s self-imposed restraints – 

With a “technical team,” New Delhi relaunched its Kabul mission in June. India’s interaction with the Taliban is mostly motivated by worries about security. In addition to ISIS and al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two terror organisations with Pakistani roots, are reportedly active in Afghanistan.

• 60 individuals with UN authorization are present in the Taliban “cabinet” and other top posts in the regime, 
• India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj – During the Security Council briefing on Afghanistan on December 20. The Taliban sanctions committee is headed by India, and Kamboj further emphasised the Taliban and al-ongoing Qaeda’s tight ties.
• Prevent attack of Afghans against Indians – New Delhi thinks it has a chance to regain some lost influence in Afghanistan now that the relationship between the regime and its supporters in Rawalpindi is not so cordial.

Way Forward 

Although “the continuation of our involvement with the Afghan people” was the mission’s stated goal when it was reopened, the mission doesn’t engage with the general public. Education and safety from the fighting were formerly strong ties, but during the past year, New Delhi has not heeded the pleadings of Afghans for visas. In the months prior to the Taliban takeover, over 3,000 Afghan students from India in 2021 who had returned home were informed that their visas had been revoked.