'I fear for my Afghan sisters,' says Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on Taliban takeover

Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai reacted to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan saying that she was troubled for her Afghan sisters. In an op-ed in the New York Times, Malala Yousafzai- who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 - said that she could not help but think of her childhood when the Taliban took over her hometown and barred girls from getting an education. 

"The Taliban - who until losing power 20 years ago barred nearly all girls and women from attending school and doled out harsh punishment to those who defied them - are back in control. Like many women, I fear for my Afghan sisters," Malala said. 

"I cannot help but think of my own childhood. When the Taliban took over my hometown in Pakistan's Swat Valley in 2007 and shortly thereafter banned girls from getting an education, I hid my books under my long, hefty shawl and walked to school in fear. Five years later, when I was 15, the Taliban tried to kill me for speaking out about my right to go to school,'' she wrote. 

'Future promised to Afghan women slipping away': Malala

In the article, Malala Yousafzai stressed that the future that Afghan girls and women had been promised over the last 20 years was 'dangerously close to slipping away.' She asserted that this was a critical moment, and there was no time to spare on debating what went wrong in Afghanistan. "They are asking for protection, for education, for the freedom and the future they were promised. We cannot continue to fail them. We have no time to spare," Malala noted.

The activist also reacted to the Taliban's vow of respecting women's rights in Afghanistan this time around, citing the history of the militant group's crackdown on women. "Taliban's history of violently suppressing women`s rights, Afghan women's fears are real. Already, we are hearing reports of female students being turned away from their universities, female workers from their offices," she said. 

Malala had survived a Taliban assassination attempt in Pakistan when she was just 15 years old. A strong voice for women's rights, she had been shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating for girls' education.

(With Agency Inputs)