Pakistan 'disappointed' by ban on university education for Afghan women, urges Kabul to revisit decision

Pakistan has expressed disappointment with the ban on university education for women in Afghanistan and has urged the Taliban government to revisit this decision.On Tuesday, Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto said that he was disappointed by the Taliban's decision but said the best approach remained engagement with the ruling government in Afghanistan.

"I'm disappointed by the decision that was taken today. I still think the easiest path to our goal -- despite having a lot of setbacks when it comes to women's education and other things -- is through Kabul and through the interim government," Bhutto told news agency AFP on Tuesday.

The Pakistan foreign minister also pointed out there were no alternatives to the Taliban and warned of further instability in Afghanistan.

Apart from Bilawal Bhutto, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch also voiced disappointment over the ban and urged the Afghan authorities to revisit this decision, according to a report by the Dawn on Wednesday. Baloch said "We strongly believe that every man and woman has the inherent right to education in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.''

On Tuesday, the Taliban banned university education for women in Afghanistan despite promising a softer approach when they took over the war-torn country last year. The decision has been strongly condemned by the United States and the United Nations.

"You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice," Afghanistan's higher education minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem said in a letter to all government and private universities on Tuesday.

And on Wednesday, hundreds of Afghan women were stopped by armed guards from entering universities. "We are doomed. We have lost everything," a student told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

Tuesday's ban comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women sat for university entrance exams across Afghanistan, with many choosing to be teachers and doctors in future.

Following the Taliban's takeover of the country, universities had been forced to implement new regulations including gender-segregated classrooms and entrances. Women students were only permitted to be taught by women professors or old men.

Not just in education, the Taliban has ratcheted restrictions on all aspects of women's lives.

(With inputs from agencies)

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