QUETTA: Political activists and students on Friday held a protest against the Afghan government’s decision to impose a ban on women’s university education.

The protesters, including women, carried placards and banners and cha­nted slogans as they marched on dif­ferent roads in the provincial capital.

The protest was carried out by the workers and supporters of the National Democratic Party (NDP).

They later gathered in front of the Quetta Press Club where NDP Balochistan President Ahmed Jan Khan addressed the crowd.

Mr Khan strongly condemned the decision of the Taliban government and said it would deprive half of the country’s population of education.

Even during the Afghan war, the education institutions were not closed for women and they were allowed to continue education, he added.

He said the Taliban government came to power in the name of Islam but is now “trying to distort the history of Afghanistan”.

Mr Khan said the decision was “a gross violation of the basic rights of women” and it could not be accepted.

Islam was never against the education of women, he said.

Other speakers also condemned the decision and said Afghanistan cannot progress by depriving half of the population of education.

They appealed to the UN and other nations to play their part in forcing the Afghan government to lift the ban.

They also demanded Islamabad to pressurise the Taliban government to allow women to continue their education.

On Dec 20, the Afghan ministry of higher education imposed an indefinite ban on university education for women, according to AFP.

The ban comes less than three months after thousands of female students sat university entrance exams across the country, with many aspiring to choose engineering and medicine as future careers.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2022