Turkey, Saudi Arabia decry Taliban university ban for women

Turkey and Saudi Arabia became the latest Muslim-majority countries to condemn Taliban authorities decision to bar women from universities

Turkey and Saudi Arabia became the latest Muslim-majority countries to condemn a decision by Taliban authorities to bar women from universities, while about two dozen women staged a protest in the streets of Kabul on 22 December.

In another sign of domestic opposition, several Afghan cricketers condemned the university ban. Cricket is a hugely popular sport in Afghanistan, and players have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

The country’s Taliban rulers earlier this week ordered women nationwide to stop attending private and public universities effective immediately and until further notice.

They have yet to publicly speak about the ban or react to the global backlash against it, although a spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, Mr. Ziaullah Hashmi, said in a tweet on 22 December that a news conference would be held this week to explain the move.

Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, since they seized power in August 2021.

They have banned girls from middle school and high school, barred women from most fields of employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms. At the same time, Afghan society, while largely traditional, has increasingly embraced the education of girls and women over the past two decades.

The latest condemnations of the university ban came from Turkey and Saudi Arabia.