KABUL: An Afghan academic who caused a storm by quitting and tearing up his degree certificates on live television to protest the ban on women in universities has vowed to fight the order “even if it costs my life”.

Ismail Mashal, a lecturer in journalism for more than a decade at three universities in Kabul, shred his qualifications and resigned from the institutions after the ban was issued this month.

“I’m raising my voice. I’m standing with my sisters... My protest will continue even if it costs my life,” Mashal, 35, told AFP at his office in the Afghan capital.

“As a man and as a teacher, I was unable to do anything else for them, and I felt that my certificates had become useless. So, I tore them.” Footage of his outburst on Tolo news went viral on social media.

Authorities say the ban on women attending university was imposed because they were not observing a strict Islamic dress code, a justification dismissed by teacher Mashal who also runs an educational institute for men and women.

“They told us to implement the wearing of hijabs for women — we did that. They told us to segregate classes — we did that too,” he said. However, he added, “The Taliban have so far not given any logical reason for the ban, which is affecting about 20 million girls.”

The ban had no basis in Islamic Sharia, he said.

Worried for his daughter, who is in sixth grade, the last year of primary school after which the ban on education takes effect, Mashal said: “I don’t know how to tell her to stop studying after grade six. What crime has she committed?”

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2023