Canada Global (Web News) Taliban’s acting deputy foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, has urged the group’s leadership to reopen schools for Afghan girls, calling the ongoing restrictions unjust and contrary to Islamic teachings.
Speaking over the weekend, Stanekzai emphasized that education was accessible to both men and women during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He argued that denying education to Afghanistan’s female population, nearly half of the country’s 40 million people, was a significant injustice.
His remarks mark one of the strongest public criticisms from within the Taliban regarding the school closures, which were reportedly enforced by the group’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, despite internal disagreements.
The Taliban initially promised to reopen girls’ high schools in 2022 but later reversed their decision and also barred women from universities by the year’s end. They claim to uphold women’s rights under Islamic law and Afghan traditions but have provided no timeline for reopening educational institutions for females.
International criticism has been widespread, with Islamic scholars and Western diplomats stating that the Taliban’s stance on women’s education remains a major obstacle to their recognition on the global stage.
Taliban officials in Kandahar, where Akhundzada is based, have not responded to Stanekzai’s remarks.
