In this picture taken on December 30, 2022, Ismail Mashal, a lecturer of journalism at three universities, speaks during an interview. AFP
Kabul: Professor Ismail Mashal who tore up his diploma on television in an act of open defiance to Taliban’s ban on university education for women in Afghanistan has called on men to stand up for women.
In a bold move to support women across the country, he said, “The only power I have is my pen, even if they kill me, even if they tear me to pieces, I won’t stay silent now.”
Professor Mashal has also shut down his private university in Kabul following the ban despite having male students.
“Education is either offered to all, or no one. The day I closed the doors of my institution, I was in a lot of pain,” he said.
The professor who tore up his diploma
Last year, Mashal tore up his diploma live on television to protest the Taliban’s ban on university education for women.
With tears in his eyes and his voice quivering, the professor said, “From today, I don’t need these diplomas anymore because this country is no place for an education. If my sister and my mother can’t study, then I don’t accept this education.”
He added that the now destroyed diplomas were originals and that he required them for his multiple Master’s and Doctorate degree.
‘I say goodbye to my family telling them I might not return’
Mashal is very well aware that his open defiance would only invite threats from Taliban.
“I know what I am doing is risky. Every morning, I say goodbye to my mother and wife and tell them I may not return. But I am ready and willing to sacrifice my life for 20 million Afghan women and girls and for the future of my two children,” he said according to BBC.
The professor, who is also a lecturer at Kabul University, said that he could have kept his university open for male students but decided against it.
“These people are playing with the future of our girls. My students call me and ask me when I think they’ll be able to go back.”
“I have no answers for them. I have no answers for my 12-year-old daughter who won’t be able to go to high school next year. She continues to ask me what crime she has committed?” he added.
UN hits back Taliban on Education Day
United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres on the occasion of Education Day on Tuesday said, “Now is the time to end all discriminatory laws and practices that hinder access to education.”
“I call on the Taliban to reverse the outrageous and self-defeating ban on access to secondary and higher education for girls & women in Afghanistan,” he added.
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