Taliban official says Afghan girls of all ages permitted to study in religious schools
Kabul, Dec 21: Afghan girls of all ages are permitted to study in religious schools, which are traditionally boys-only, a Taliban official said Thursday.
A day earlier, UN special envoy Roza Otunbayeva told the Security Council and reporters that the United Nations was receiving "more and more anecdotal evidence" that girls could study at the Islamic schools known as madrassas.
But Otunbayeva said it wasn't clear what constituted a madrassa, if there was a standardised curriculum that allowed modern education subjects, and how many girls were able to study in the schools.
The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from education beyond sixth grade, including university. Madrassas are one of the few options for girls after sixth grade to receive any kind of education.
Mansor Ahmad, a spokesman at the Education Ministry in the Afghan capital Kabul, said in messages to The Associated Press that there are no age restrictions for girls at government-controlled madrassas. The only requirement is that girls must be in a madrassa class appropriate to their age.
"If her age is not in line with the class and (the age) is too high, then she is not allowed," said Ahmad. "Madrassas have the same principles as schools and older women are not allowed in junior classes." Privately run madrassas have no age restrictions and females of all ages, including adult women, can study in these schools, according to Ahmad.
There are around 20,000 madrassas in Afghanistan, of which 13,500 are government-controlled. Private madrassas operate out of mosques or homes, said Ahmad. He did not give details on how many girls are studying in the country's madrassas or if this number increased after the bans.
Otunbayeva addressed the Security Council on the one-year anniversary of the Taliban banning women from universities. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with restrictions on female education.
Higher education officials in Kabul were unavailable for comment Thursday on when or if the restrictions would be lifted, or what steps the Taliban are taking to make campuses and classrooms comply with their interpretation of Islamic law.
Afghanistan's higher education minister, Nida Mohammed Nadim, said last December that the university ban was necessary to prevent the mixing of genders and because he believed some subjects being taught violated the principles of Islam.
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Activists write open letter to Odisha govt flagging anti-Christian violence
New Delhi: Activists and rights campaigners John Dayal, Aakar Patel, Vidya Dinker and Harsh Mander have expressed serious concern over the alleged rise in violence and intimidation against Christians in several districts, accusing both Hindutva organisations and sections of the police of targeting the minority community.
In a strongly worded communication addressed to the state administration, the signatories said they had received disturbing testimonies from affected people regarding social boycott, denial of burial rights, physical assaults and police intimidation.
According to the activists, Christians in some areas were allegedly boycotted by villagers, while people who traded with them, employed them or provided them shelter were also targeted.
The letter also highlighted what it described as “gruesome” incidents involving the prevention of burials of Christians within village burial grounds and even on privately owned lands belonging to Christian families. The activists said there were cases where bodies remained unburied for days due to opposition from local groups, while in some instances burials were allegedly forced to take place in forest areas outside village limits. Funeral prayers were also reportedly disrupted.
The signatories further alleged that in certain districts the violence escalated into physical assaults on Christians. They claimed that some victims were tied to trees and beaten, while others were allegedly placed inside sacks and assaulted. The letter also mentioned a few reported instances of sexual violence and attempts to burn people alive, which, according to them, were stopped at the last moment.
Expressing particular concern, the activists said many victims had testified that police personnel joined hands with Hindutva organisations to force Christians into signing “compromise” agreements. These agreements allegedly required them to give up their faith and stop collective worship.
The letter also accused the police of registering serious criminal cases against victims of attacks instead of taking action against the attackers. According to the signatories, many of those attacked were detained in police stations and jails, while in some cases the police themselves allegedly played a direct role in intimidation and violence against Christians.
Stating that there appeared to be a “complete breakdown in the constitutional machinery of the state” in relation to Christian minorities, the activists urged the administration to uphold and protect the constitutional and religious rights of all citizens without discrimination based on religion, caste or creed.
The letter was signed by John Dayal, Aakar Patel, Vidya Dinker and Harsh Mander.
