Kabul, Dec 23, (dpa/GNA) – Afghanistan’s acting minister for higher education, has justified the ban on women attending university on the grounds that female students, were not observing Islamic dress codes, were attending class without the accompaniment of male relatives, and were mixing with male students.
Speaking to public broadcaster RTA on Thursday, Sheikh Neda Mohammed Nadim said subjects were also being taught to women, that were not in line with “Islamic law and Afghan pride,” the privately owned broadcaster TOLOnews reported.
Dozens of women came out onto the streets of Kabul on Thursday to protest against the ban on women attending university. Several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Afghanistan’s direct neighbours Iran and Pakistan, have expressed criticism of the move.
Striving for knowledge by both men and women, is seen by many as an Islamic teaching.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers banned women from the country’s universities with immediate effect on Tuesday. Women and girls have been largely excluded from public life, since the Taliban seized power in August last year.
GNA