Afghanistan's acting education minister has pushed back against criticism of the Taliban's ban on women attending university, citing female students' violations of the Islamic dress code, interactions with male students and attendance of classes without the accompaniment of a male relative.
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.
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.
Dozens of women came out onto the streets of Kabul on Thursday to protest against the university ban. Several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Afghanistan's direct neighbors Iran and Pakistan, have expressed criticism of the move.
Striving for knowledge by both men and women is seen by many as Islamic teaching.
In a written statement on Wednesday, Türkiye's Foreign Ministry also called on Afghan authorities to review the decision and take necessary steps to reverse it.
“The Taliban administration made a decision to ban female students from entering universities in Afghanistan. This is a decision that goes against the spirit of Islam,” echoed Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın.
Likewise, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu asserted on Thursday, "This ban is neither Islamic nor humanistic. Islam encourages education."
Pointing out that there are around 1 million women eligible for university education, Çavuşoğlu added: "What kind of harm could women's education have for humanity or for Afghanistan? What kind of benefit does such a decision carry?"
