I went to the Afghan capital Kabul three weeks ago and stayed for nearly one week, where I met with local civil society professionals, politicians and United Nations officials to conduct interviews and look at the current situation under the Taliban’s new regime.

Earlier, I wrote about the interview with Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai, Deputy Special Envoy of the U.N. to Afghanistan Mr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Taliban government’s spokesperson Mr. Zabiullah Mucahid, Foreign Minister’s spokesperson Mr. Abdulkahhar Balki and tried to describe the situation in the country in general.

Today, I aim to write about the deteriorating conditions of Afghan women and girls.

Since the Taliban returned to power in the country last year, it is not possible for girls to continue their education after the sixth grade, which means that they are only allowed to go to primary school. Those already attending university can continue their studies in separate classrooms with the boys but soon there will not be any girls on campuses since high school education is no longer permitted. This is the biggest reason the international community does not recognize the Taliban government. So I asked about their plans and future projections concerning this ban.

No new word on the issue

Unfortunately, neither Mr. Mucahid nor Mr. Balki gave a concrete answer to this question. They say that they are discussing the subject and working on a solution. However, is this solution lifting the ban? No, they do not say that.

Mr. Karzai, meanwhile, is sure that they will lift the ban, he is one of the strongest voices for the rights of girls and he says the ban on girls’ education is contradictory to the traditions and culture of Afghanistan.

I hope he is right. However, as far as I understood, there are conflicting views among the Taliban regarding this issue. There is a more conservative branch who are strongly opposing girls’ education but there is also a more liberal segment as well.

Who will win? We do not know yet but I can say that they got more conservative reflexes than last year. In 2021, when I went after the fall of the old regime, I interviewed Mr. Mucahid and we took pictures together and filmed the interview where we appeared together. But this time he refused to be in the same picture with me since I am a woman and he also refused to be filmed in the same shot.

Interviews with Afghan women

I spoke to women as well. Last year, I interviewed a high-ranking government official on conditions of anonymity since she was scared for her life. We met again and she accepted a second interview, again on the condition of remaining anonymous. She said women like her can still not work, Taliban is not following them like last year but she is still afraid of being caught. She was preparing to escape to Pakistan because she was sure things would get worse for women and girls.

On the other hand, I interviewed a civil society professional, Nadima Noor. The 38-year-old dual Canadian-Afghan national is a woman’s rights activist and humanitarian worker speaking for Afghan women. She is a well-known voice in the country, whom the Taliban allows to travel internationally and hold speeches. She is raising money for women and creating an atmosphere to work. Nadima says education is important but they should first feed the people and heal the wounds.

Hence, I must say that I am a little bit puzzled. On the one hand, there is the Taliban restricting women from walking with men on the street if he is not a family member and banning education for girls. On the other hand, there is also a Taliban allowing Nadima to live alone, travel alone and work for women.

I think the Taliban is becoming more pragmatic. They give people more space, bring them advantages and money and restrict the basic human rights of the crowds.