ISLAMABAD: Participants at a consultation on ‘Afghan peace and reconciliation: Pakistan’s interests and policy options’ organised by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) expressed that Islamabad should engage with the incumbent regime in Kabul while protecting its own security interests and refraining from endorsing the Afghan Taliban’s restrictions imposed on women.

The participants insisted that Pakistan should form a special policy for Afghan women and vulnerable communities while offering scholarships, online education, and vocational training.

Pakistan’s former ambassador, Seema Ilahi Baloch, said that the education of women had been the worst hit in Afghanistan because of the “Taliban regime’s perceived ideological perception about how women should be.”

The women don’t have access to health facilities, and the Afghan women, including students, have been barred from travelling outside their country without a male mehram (family member), she added.

Ms Baloch said: “We (Pakistan) need to be careful as neighbours but have to see the plight of Afghan women within the Pak-Afghan context, apart from the perspective of human and women’s rights.”

She added that Pakistan’s policy of allowing Afghan refugees was not necessarily in its national interest, but now it is wrong to forcefully deport them; rather, a policy on Afghan refugees should be made, she said.

Verso Consulting Islamabad Executive Director Safiya Aftab said that the large-scale repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan in the given situation in Afghanistan was very heartless, particularly for girls.

Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Senior Coordinator Elsa Imdad Hussain, while quoting a report on the two-year rule of the Afghan Taliban, said that the Taliban government might be right for Afghanistan in terms of economy, finance, and foreign relations, but women were being treated the wrong way, adding, “It is an opportunity for Pakistan to come up with a refugee law that should be both human and gender-centric.”

Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) Assistant Professor Dr. Sobia Hanif remarked that women, who comprised 50 percent of the Afghan population, were being subjected to all kinds of human rights violations as they were deprived of education, employment rights, and health facilities.

She added that Pakistan should resolve issues with Afghanistan through constant constructive engagement and should form a special policy for Afghan women, minorities, and people with disabilities.

FJWU professor Dr Samrana Afzal believed that Pakistan should go for quiet diplomacy and public messaging with the Taliban government to meet the demands on governance, including basic rights and counter-terrorism commitments.

TV host and social activist Tanzeela Mazhar said that Pakistan should have a specified policy for Afghan women and vulnerable communities, and “Pakistan should clearly state that it stands for human and women’s rights besides distancing itself from the Taliban’s policies.”

Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Associate Professor Dr. Salma Malik suggested that Islamabad could allow young Afghan girls to complete their education through the syllabus of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Islamabad-based Afghan Women Association Director Nargis Mansoor highlighted that current restrictions enforced by the Afghan Taliban on the right to education of women in Afghanistan would cause a severe shortage of teachers and doctors in the war-torn country in the future.

Academics, former diplomats, journalists, youth and rights activists, policy analysts, and experts on Afghan affairs were present at the event.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2024