Newly Taliban-appointed Kabul University Chancellor Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat announced that women would be banned from the institution either as instructors or students.
In a tweet, Ghairat said, ” I give you my words as the chancellor of Kabul University, as long as a real Islamic environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to universities or work. Islam first.”
While speaking with New York Times, one female lecturer said, “Presidents, teachers, engineers and even mullahs are trained here and gifted to society. Kabul University is the home to the nation of Afghanistan.”
Earlier, the chancellor tweeted in Pashto that the university was working on a plan to accommodate teaching female students.
“Due to shortage of female lecturers, we are working on a plan for male lecturers to be able to teach female students from behind a curtain in the classroom. That way an Islamic environment would be created for the female students to get an education,” he wrote.
Upon this Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid said that the ban on women would stay until there is a safer transportation system and an environment where female students are protected.
The Taliban replaced the previous serving president of the university with Mr. Ghairat, a 34-year-old devotee of the movement who has referred to the country’s schools as “centers for prostitution,” reports CNN.
Thousands of public university students are staying home. The American University in Afghanistan, in which the U.S. invested over a hundred million dollars has been abandoned completely and taken over by the Taliban.
