'I'm not afraid of Taliban', says Kabul girl as students return to schools amid crisis

While US and its NATO allies continued withdrawal from Afghanistan after working on foreign soil for two decades, some of the advances made in the past years were still evident as, despite Taliban control, children were seen rushing to school early on August 31. As per The Associated Press report, a class 5 student, Masooda who was hurrying to get to her private school, brushed off the threat of the Taliban and asked why should she be ‘afraid.’ Fearing the new rulers of the war-torn country, thousands of Afghan nationals have fled the country through the help of countries in the west and their evacuation missions. 

Now, with most countries ending their repatriations and US troop withdrawal approaches its completion, students in Afghanistan had been called back to school four days ago. Reportedly, the Taliban, who have promised to respect the rights of Afghans “within the framework of Islamic law,” also said that the students will be segregated by sex. Notably, segregation by sex was already in practice in several schools except for the early grades. In the earlier rule of the extremists from 1996 to 2001, the education for girls was greatly restricted. 

Class 5 student, Masooda told the AP, “I’m not afraid of the Taliban...Why should I be?”

Afghanistan’s curriculum under the Taliban

The Taliban’s caretaker higher education minister said on August 29 that country’s national curriculum will be cleared out of elements conflicting with Islam. As per The Associated Press, while addressing a news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul, Abdul Baqi Haqqani stated that the recent history of the country revealed that Afghans “won't accept anything but Islam.” During their last rule. Which fell in 2001, the extremist group oversaw an oppressive system that offered the citizens only a limited set of educational opportunities and restricted women and girls to their homes. 

"Afghans won't abandon Islam, Afghans won't accept slavery, they won't neglect their national values," Haqqani said. The Taliban have also said that want good relations with the international community and have promised a more moderate form of Islamic rule the last time. However, the group’s public rhetoric has still left Afghans deeply skeptical.

(IMAGE: AP)