Taliban says women banned from education as they were 'not accompanied by male relative'

Taliban on Thursday justified the ban on university education for women saying that the women have to be accompanied by male relatives to the educational institutes, but had been violating the "laws." 

The minister for higher education in the Taliban government Neda Mohammad Nadeem said that women students ignored Islamic instructions based on the Shariah law such as the appropriate moral dress, and being accompanied by a male relative. In an interview with the state television, Nadeem further noted that the Afghan women's behaviour was in breach of the country's Islamic moral code of conduct, and were dressed like they were "attending a wedding function". 

"Unfortunately after the passing of 14 months, the instructions of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate regarding the education of women were not implemented," Nadeem was quoted as saying. 

"They were dressing like they were going to a wedding. Those girls who were coming to universities from home were also not following instructions on hijab."

Ban necessary 'to prevent the mixing of genders': Taliban

Furthermore, the Taliban-appointed minister argued that science subjects were not suitable for women. "Engineering, agriculture, and some other courses do not match the dignity and honour of female students and also Afghan culture," he told the state television. He further stated that the Taliban has also shut down madrassas that were only teaching women students in accordance with the law. Nadim defended the ban on universities for women, stressing that it was "necessary" to prevent the mixing of genders in universities.

He continued his bogus claims, arguing that the subjects taught in the universities violated the principles of Islam. He then asserted that the ban is in place until further notice. He pushed back the condemnation from the Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar during the Afghan television interview saying that the other countries must "stop interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs."

As the Taliban instated the ban on the education of women at the university level, the G7 group of states issued a joint statement asking the Taliban to rescind the ban immediately. They warned that “gender persecution may amount to a crime against humanity”. “Taliban policies designed to erase women from public life will have consequences for how our countries engage with the Taliban. The G7 group nations including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union warned the Taliban against curtailing women's rights. In his response, Nadim noted that the ban will be reviewed later. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement, threatening the Taliban with "costs" and consequences if it did not reverse the ban on women's university education. 

“What they’ve done is to try to sentence Afghan women and girls to a dark future without opportunity,” Blinken said at the White House briefing. 

“And the bottom line is that no country is going to be able to succeed – much less thrive – if it denies half its population the opportunity to contribute. And to be clear, we’re engaged with other countries on this right now – there are going to be costs if this is not reversed, if this has not changed,” said Blinken.