Exclusive | Afghan women ask OIC to restore freedom to study, work

Amid Taliban’s anti-women tyranny, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – a 57-nation grouping of Islamic countries – is expected to send a delegation to Kabul to deliberate for women's rights in Afghanistan. This comes close on the heels of a UN delegation's trip to the country, and pleas from the international community to restore the freedoms of women and girls to study and work.

The date of the OIC visit to Kabul is yet to be announced. Yet, Afghan women see it as a glimmer of hope in the wake of intensifying extremism that has ripped their rights apart since Taliban's arrival in Kabul's officialdom.

It has been over a month since Sana Siddiqui, 21 – an eighth semester Law and Political Science student at a Jalalabad university – lost her right to education in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. “One of the girls fainted. Everybody else began to cry,” Sana had told WION, referring to the scene of chaos that unfolded in the auditorium of her university after a top university official announced that girls were no longer to be educated.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

ALSO READ |Afghan women speak to WION as Taliban dismantle their right to education, campus after campus

"There are verses in the Quran that insist on education. Prophet Muhammad's wife Khadijah was a successful businesswoman herself," Sana said, adding Taliban's religious characterisation of its rulings denying education and work rights to women go against Islam's basic teachings.

According to Islamic religious texts, Prophet Muhammad's first wife Khadijah conducted business transactions on caravans that traded within the Arab world. Many Afghan women like Sana refer to the progressive life of Khadijah to decolour Taliban's islamic characterisation of ban of women's education and freedom to work.

ALSO WATCH |Afghan women speak to WION from the ground: 'We want our freedoms back' | WION Originals

Over a month since the Taliban imposed a ban on women’s university education, the anti-women rulings from Kabul’s power corridors have become more frequent.

ALSO READ | Exclusive | Afghan women fear for life as Taliban ban male doctors from treating them

At the time of filing this report, the Taliban diktat that women aid workers can no longer work in Afghanistan remains imposed. In January, the Taliban ruled in Balkh province that male doctors can no longer treat female patients. On January 30, young female students were stopped from appearing in University entrance exams across the country.

Expectations from OIC visit

Reflecting on the lack of awareness among Taliban extremists about the world beyond Afghanistan, Sana said the OIC must make efforts "to create a consensus" amongst hardliners that women can work and be educated in Muslim countries.

ALSO READ | Exclusive: 'Why is the world neglecting Afghan women?'

"OIC member countries should jointly issue a ruling that women's rights such as education and freedom to work are allowed in Afghanistan," Sana added.

WION reached out to Dr Sona, a medical professional from Kabul, to ask what she expects of the OIC.

"I asked every woman around me what they want," Dr Sona said. "We just want freedom."

"I asked my sister-in-law, my mother, my sister, and my batchmates. They said they want freedom to work. That they want to go back to the schools, and colleges. They want to study," Dr Sona added.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.