“The Taliban are afraid of the power of women, of their knowledge and their awareness”

Quraisha

Former medical student, Parwan

“My name is Quraisha, and I live in a traditional community with my mother and sister. My father has passed away, and I have faced numerous challenges in my life. I fought to get an education to be able to support my family and my community. I stayed up late at night, endured hunger and worked hard to reach the point where I could attend the Medical Faculty of Albiruni University.

In my third year at the university, I was filled with happiness. Little did I know that soon, the Taliban takeover would replace my smiles with tears, shattering all my dreams. I feared that our nation might regress into the dark age of ignorance when the Taliban assumed control, and regrettably, that’s precisely what occurred. Afghan girls and women lost their rights and were restricted to their homes.

The university’s closure crushed my dreams. I aspired to be a doctor, serving the needy and bringing honour to my family and country. It’s devastating that these harsh conditions shattered my dreams.

If Afghan girls and women abandon their education and submit to injustice today, we will be doing an injustice to our daughters’ future and make their paths harder. I desire our legacy to be one of honour and knowledge, not of ignorance passed down to the next generation.

The Taliban are afraid of the power of women, of their knowledge and their awareness. They want to keep us in the darkness of ignorance to prevent us from defending our rights and to raise a generation that is blind to facts and follows irrational superstitions. The Taliban aim to take away this light from us women to offer a society to the world that is led by oppressive men, as they know that a woman’s embrace is the first school for nurturing scholars and enlightening minds. The Taliban want to steal this radiance from us so that the illiterate generation they wish to create does not have the eyes to see, the tongue to speak, or the hands to resist.

My wish is for my country to be free from all the bonds of ignorance that have polluted the air and created an atmosphere that makes it hard to breathe, restricting young Afghan women to the four walls of their homes.

I want to emphasize that the aspiration of all of us women is for the liberation of our country from the shackles of ignorance and illiteracy. In these challenging times, I refuse to yield to the Taliban’s tyranny and oppression. Education is my moral and human duty.

My plea to the international community, as a human being, is to support us. We are human too, and we want to live like other human beings.”

“From my perspective, Afghanistan has turned into a women’s prison”

A woman in a black facemask and hijab stands by french doors, looking to the right.