In a startling turn of events, the Taliban government in Afghanistan overturned its decision to allow female Afghani students to attend high school. This decision meant that girl Afghani students will not be able to attend school after 6th grade leaving many students teary-eyed.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan has been under scrutiny from all countries around the world to determine the kind of system they would follow, post the hostile takeover of the nation by the Islamic fundamentalist group. The existing democratically elected government was overthrown even before the US troops had left the country.

A comparatively less hostile takeover with minimal bloodshed also meant that the other countries around the world did not intervene in the process choosing to adopt a “wait and watch” approach. The Taliban demanded that other countries recognise them as the legitimate government of the war-torn country and promised to have a different approach from the earlier one. The Taliban had initially adopted a very staunch version of Islam and Sharia law which was considered to be very hard-line and backward by even other Islamic countries.

The Taliban had promised reform with the new government by allowing women to work in government and private organisations, opening up the school system to allow women to have access to education and a whole plethora of options that were not possible under the previous Taliban regime. The whole manifesto was looked at with suspicion by the world from day one with everyone welcoming the reforms but opting to see them in practice before making an official sign of support.

Very few nations openly recognised the government that replaced the one led by Ashraf Ghani, who has since fled the country fearing persecution. Along with him, the Taliban has lost most of the supporters of the previous government and those who openly opposed the designated terrorist organisation as well. This has led to a serious erosion of local talent and skilled workers from the country. The rebuilding exercise in Afghanistan has to start at the grass-root level as all the hard work of the previous governments have been razed to the ground or uprooted completely.

Following the strict rules of the Sharia, the system is considered to be very primitive by senior Islamic scholars who have called for a more nuanced approach to the interpretation of the laws in relation to modern times. However, many Islamic groups like the Taliban, ISIS and many terrorist groups in the region opt for a more literal implementation of these archaic laws. Even the epicentre of Islam, Saudi Arabia has softened their stand and is adopting a more liberal outlook that conforms with modern times.

The main issue being highlighted is the treatment of female Afghani students who now have no access to education pushing the whole nation back to the dark times of the initial rule. The official reason being touted by the Taliban officials is that there is a shortage of teachers to conduct classes prompting them to shut down classes for girls within hours of its opening last week.

Read the full article at https://thedailyvanilla.com/2022/03/30/afghani-students-see-some-relief-with-new-student-exchange-program-with-india/