To the outside world, women’s right to an education is an unalienable right. For girls and women in Afghanistan, it is an open-and-shut case of discrimination.
Zahra Azimi, who completed her studies through the 12th grade, has experienced firsthand the deadly shock, the renewed optimism, and the ultimate crushing low women have experienced in their pursuit of an education under Taliban rule.
She was among the hundreds of students taking practice university exams at the Kaaj Higher Education Center in west Kabul on September 30 when tragedy struck.
At least 53 people were killed when a suicide bomber targeted the center, located in an area of the Afghan capital predominantly inhabited by members of the Shi'ite Hazara community, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Azimi was among the 110 who were wounded.
The unclaimed attack led to international condemnation and was followed by street demonstrations by girls and women across Afghanistan amid growing concerns about the environment for female education under the Taliban government.
A member of the Taliban fires into the air to disperse Afghan women during a rally to protest restrictions on women in Kabul on December 2021.
Shortly after seizing power in August 2021, the hard-line Islamist group banned the education of girls past the sixth grade. While women were still allowed to attend universities, restrictions were imposed on those who did, including their segregation from males in classrooms, adherence to a newly introduced Islamic dress code, access only to women instructors, and a limited offering of fields to study.
Despite the limitations and her injuries, the knowledge that she might still have the opportunity to take the entrance exam in the hope of attending university provided some solace to Azimi.
SEE ALSO: Art As Therapy: Afghan Women Paint Their Experiences Under Taliban RuleJust weeks after the deadly Kabul bombing, she did manage to take the exam and passed with flying colors -- scoring high enough to enroll in a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Kabul University, the country’s most prestigious higher education institution.
“For two years, we worked day and night to achieve our goals and dreams. Finally, we went to the exam stage and passed the exam,” Azimi told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
But soon after, she lamented, “we saw that the gates of the universities were closed [to women].”
Female Afghan university students are stopped by Taliban security personnel next to a university in Kabul on December 21, 2022.
In December, the Taliban announced that it was banning women and girls from going to public and private universities. And in January, the Taliban warned universities that female students were banned from taking entrance exams scheduled for later that month, leading to a new wave of condemnations and calls by rights groups, foreign governments, and UNAMA to reverse the decision.
At the time, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashemi, said in written comments to Radio Azadi that “we are committed to the rights of all Afghans based on Islamic Shari’a [law] and we call on the international community to never impose such demands.”
Women like Amini still held out hope that the decision would be reversed. But optimism gave way to despair when, in February, the Ministry of Higher Education announced that spring semesters at public universities would commence with only male students.
Hashemi did not respond to Radio Azadi’s questions regarding the decision but had earlier said that girls and women would be expected to abide by official rulings regarding their education until further notice.
Baisarat Fitrat, who was also wounded in the bombing of the Kaaj Higher Education Center, was unable to take the university entrance exams due to her health.
A 19-year old Hazara Afghan girl sits and cries following a suicide bomb attack on a Hazara education center in Kabul on September 30, 2022. At least 53 people were killed.
Basirat said she had hoped to study engineering at Kabul University but fears that door has closed.
"I dreamed of becoming an engineer. I always wanted to become an engineer. I worked hard for two years,” Fitrat told Radio Azadi.
The harsh reality of their situation has left Fitrat and Azimi despondent and looking for ways to continue their education. Azimi, for one, is eyeing the possibility of studying abroad, potentially contributing to the brain drain of some of Afghanistan’s best and brightest young minds.
“I have a feeling inside that I can't express. Before, I thought that as an Afghan I was pursuing a goal for my country, and that as an Afghan I should fulfill my responsibility,” Azimi said. “But now that the gates of the universities are closed, I'm entering a scary and dark valley."