UN envoy meets with Afghan higher-ed chief over ban on women

A top U.N. envoy met with the Taliban-led Afghan
government’s higher education minister Saturday to discuss the ban on women
attending universities. Markus Potzel is the first international official to
meet with him since the ban was introduced last month.
Taliban authorities on Dec. 20 ordered public and private
universities to close for women immediately until further notice. It triggered
widespread international condemnation, including from Muslim-majority countries
such as Qatar and Turkey.
Higher Education Minister Nida Mohammad Nadim has defended
the ban, saying it is necessary to prevent the mixing of genders in
universities and because he believes some subjects violate Islamic principles.
That ban was followed days later by a ban on Afghan women
working for national and international non-governmental groups, another
decision that caused global condemnation and the suspension of work by major
aid agencies.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan said that Potzel called for
the urgent lifting of these bans in his meeting with Nadim, saying the country
is entering a new period of crisis. “Taliban bans on female education &
work for aid agencies will harm all Afghans,” the mission said.
Nadim told Potzel the ministry was working for the
development and improvement of Afghans, with the protection of Islamic and
national values, according to information shared by ministry spokesman Ziaullah
Hashmi.
He said opponents were criticizing the implementation of
Islamic affairs, using education as an argument to achieve their “evil goals.”
“We need to make sure there is no place for them to
criticize and, at the same time, fulfill the wishes of Afghans who have made
sacrifices for Islamic rule and the implementation of Sharia rules in the
country,” Nadim told Potzel at the meeting.
He also said Afghanistan’s rulers will not accept anyone’s
demands in the form of pressure against Islamic principles.
Potzel thanked Nadim for his time, saying the higher
education of any country has a direct impact on the economic situation of that
country, according to the ministry spokesman.
The envoy promised to cooperate in the development of
Afghanistan’s higher education and shared his plan for female education with
Nadim.
Potzel has also met with Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed
Hanif, who issued the NGO ban; Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi;
Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and former President Hamid Karzai in
recent days to discuss the crackdowns on women and girls.
The discussions come ahead of a closed-door meeting of the
U.N. Security Council on Jan. 13 about Afghanistan.
Nadim, a former provincial governor, police chief and
military commander, was appointed minister in October by the supreme Taliban
leader and previously pledged to stamp out secular schooling. He opposes female
education, saying it is against Islamic and Afghan values.