KABUL – The Taliban’s acting deputy foreign minister called on his senior leadership to open schools for Afghan girls, among the strongest public rebukes of a policy that has contributed to the international isolation of its rulers.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who previously led a team of negotiators at the Taliban’s political office in Doha before U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, said in a speech at the weekend that restrictions on girls and women’s education was not in line with Islamic Sharia law.
“We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education,” he said, according to local broadcaster Tolo, referring to the Taliban’s name for its administration.
“In the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women,” he said.
“Today, out of a population of forty million, we are committing injustice against twenty million people,” he added, referring to the female population of Afghanistan.
The comments were among the strongest public criticism in recent years by a Taliban official of the school closures, which Taliban sources and diplomats have previously told Reuters were put in place by the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada despite some internal disagreement.
The Taliban have said they respect women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture.
They made a sharp u-turn on promises to open high schools for girls in 2022, and have since said they were working on a plan for the schools to re-open but have not given any timeline.
They closed universities to female students at the end of 2022.
The policies have been widely criticised internationally, including by Islamic scholars, and Western diplomats have said any path towards formal recognition of the Taliban is blocked until there is a change on their policies towards women.
A Taliban administration spokesman in the southern city of Kandahar where Haibatullah is based did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Stanekzai’s remarks.
REUTERS
Timbalan menteri luar Taliban gesa sekolah menengah perempuan dibuka
KABUL – Pemangku timbalan menteri luar Taliban menyeru kepimpinan kanannya untuk membuka sekolah untuk gadis Afghanistan, antara teguran awam yang paling kuat terhadap dasar yang telah menyumbang kepada pengasingan antarabangsa terhadap pemerintahnya.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, yang sebelum ini mengetuai pasukan perunding di pejabat politik Taliban di Doha sebelum tentera AS berundur dari Afghanistan pada 2021, berkata dalam ucapan pada hujung minggu bahawa sekatan ke atas kanak-kanak perempuan dan pendidikan wanita tidak selaras dengan undang-undang syariah Islam.
“Kami meminta pemimpin Emiriah Islam untuk membuka pintu pendidikan,” katanya, menurut penyiar tempatan Tolo, merujuk kepada nama Taliban untuk pentadbirannya.
“Pada zaman Nabi Muhammad SAW, pintu-pintu ilmu dibuka kepada lelaki dan wanita,” katanya.
“Hari ini, daripada populasi empat puluh juta, kita melakukan ketidakadilan terhadap dua puluh juta orang,” tambahnya, merujuk kepada penduduk wanita Afghanistan.
Komen itu adalah antara kritikan awam yang paling kuat dalam beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini oleh seorang pegawai Taliban mengenai penutupan sekolah, yang mana sumber dan diplomat Taliban sebelum ini memberitahu Reuters dilakukan oleh pemimpin rohani tertinggi Haibatullah Akhundzada walaupun terdapat beberapa perselisihan dalaman.
Taliban berkata mereka menghormati hak wanita mengikut tafsiran mereka terhadap undang-undang Islam dan budaya Afghanistan.
Mereka membuat u-turn (pusingan u) pada janji untuk membuka sekolah menengah untuk perempuan pada tahun 2022, dan sejak itu berkata mereka sedang mengusahakan rancangan untuk sekolah itu dibuka semula tetapi tidak memberikan sebarang garis masa.
Mereka menutup universiti kepada pelajar perempuan pada penghujung 2022.
Dasar itu telah dikritik secara meluas di peringkat antarabangsa, termasuk oleh sarjana Islam, dan diplomat Barat berkata sebarang laluan ke arah pengiktirafan rasmi Taliban disekat sehingga terdapat perubahan pada dasar mereka terhadap wanita.
Jurucakap pentadbiran Taliban di bandar selatan, Kandahar di mana Haibatullah berpangkalan tidak segera menjawab permintaan untuk mengulas mengenai kenyataan Stanekzai.
REUTERS