For over a decade, Matiullah Wesa traveled across Afghanistan with a mobile school and library, trying to improve access to education for children in remote areas.
Even after the Taliban seized power in 2021 and restricted female education, the 30-year-old continued to urge parents and community leaders in impoverished rural areas to send boys and girls to school.
But Wesa, head of the Pen Path nongovernmental organization, paid the price for his work this week when he was beaten and arrested in Kabul. His two brothers, who worked with him, were briefly detained. Meanwhile, his family's home was raided by Taliban fighters.
Wesa's arrest on March 27 on unknown charges has sparked an international outcry and served to highlight the Taliban's intensifying crackdown on dissent. In recent weeks, the militant group has arrested a number of activists and educators.
"[Wesa's arrest] is a major sign of oppression and authoritarianism," Orzala Ashraf Nemat, an Afghan researcher, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "There was nothing political about his work, and he didn't campaign against any government."
Wesa hosts his mobile school and library campaign in Kandahar. (file photo)
With the help of his vast network of volunteers, Pen Path claims to have distributed stationery and books to more than 1.5 million children across Afghanistan. A widely known figure, Wesa was a respected campaigner for education.
Since his arrest, the Taliban has launched a smear campaign against Wesa, portraying him as a Western spy.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused Wesa, who hails from the southern province of Kandahar, the Taliban's stronghold, of conspiring with foreigners.
"He acted on his own and had public and secret meetings [with foreigners] without informing our government," Mujahid told VOA. "He was taking directions from outside."
Last month, Wesa traveled to Brussels, where he met with European officials. He has previously met with United Nations officials and Western diplomats in Kabul, often posting photos of his meetings.
Wesa's family has strongly rejected the Taliban's claims.
"We are not a political or military organization that needs to have secret contacts," Wesa's elder brother, Attaullah, told Radio Azadi. "We have campaigned for education, which is our human and Islamic right."
Sami Yousafzai, an Afghan journalist who tracks the Taliban, said Wesa's Brussels visit was likely the reason for his arrest.
"The Taliban are an authoritarian regime and want to control all aspects of Afghan life," he said. "The Taliban want all Afghans to meet foreign officials only after getting their approval."
'Silence Every Source Of Light'
Since seizing power, the Taliban has waged a brutal crackdown on dissent that has targeted human rights defenders, women activists, journalists, and intellectuals. The militants have violently dispersed peaceful protests staged by women demanding their basic rights.
The clampdown has intensified in recent months and specifically targeted educators.
The Taliban has attracted widespread condemnation for its severe restrictions on education. Soon after capturing the country, the militants banned girls above the sixth grade from going to school. In December, the hard-line Islamist group banned women from attending university.
Wesa brings his mobile school and library to children in Kandahar in May 2022.
Jeremy Laurence, a spokesman for the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said a "concerning number of civil society activists and media workers have been detained since early 2023."
They include women's rights activist Nargis Sadat, university lecturer Zakaria Osuli, academic Sultan Ali Ziaee, and journalists Khairullah Parhar and Mortaza Behboudi.
Laurence said the individuals have been arbitrarily detained without "clear information as to their whereabouts, wellbeing, or any charges against them."
In early March, the Taliban arrested Rasul Parsi, a former university professor in the western city of Herat who had written Facebook posts critical of the authorities.
On March 26, the Taliban briefly detained three female activists -- Fatemeh Mohammadi, Malali Hashemi, and Ruqiya Saee -- for participating in a protest demanding girls' right to go to school. They were released the following day after reportedly pledging to not take part in any future demonstrations.
In February, the Taliban arrested former university professor Ismail Mashal after he began distributing books to women and girls in Kabul to protest the Taliban's restrictions on female education. Mashal, who was recently released, made headlines in December when he ripped up his diplomas on live TV.
Shaharzad Akbar, an Afghan rights campaigner who headed the former Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said the Taliban is specifically targeting education activists because it "proves that people inside Afghanistan are opposed to their policies."
"They want to silence every source of light and hope," she told Radio Azadi.