LONDON: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Sunday said she was concerned that the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan would not be temporary, as claimed.

Ms Yousafzai told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that “I’m afraid that this ban that they have announced right now that they’re calling temporary might not actually be temporary”. A similar ban in 1996 “lasted for five years”, she pointed out.

After seizing power in August, the Taliban in September excluded girls from returning to secondary school while ordering boys back to class.

The Taliban have claimed that they will allow girls to return once they have ensured security and stricter segregation under their interpretation of Islamic law — but many are sceptical.

“We’re calling on the Taliban to immediately allow girls to have access to their complete education, we’re calling on G20 leaders and other world leaders to ensure that girls’ rights are protected in Afghanistan,” said Mr Yousafzai.

The 24-year-old activist, who revealed on Twitter this week that she had tied the knot with Asser Malik, sent an open letter last month urging the ban be reversed.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2021