HERAT (SW) – Women and girls in Herat took to the streets on Thursday demanding right to study and work.
Chanting slogans such as ‘life or death’, the women marched in front of the governor’s office in Herat to call for their rights and liberties.
They underlined that that women make up half of the whole society and therefore they should not be sidelined in all walks of life. They called for equal rights in political, economic, social and cultural spheres.
The protesters stressed that the future of women remain vague with the Taliban in power. “It is worrying to see that women are not allowed to participate in society,” said Zarmineh, one of the women who took part in the march.
The right to education, the right to work in society, freedom, the presence of women in public spheres, political and social activities were among other demands of the protesting women and girls.
They said that it is impossible to prevent them from participating in social and political activities.
The Taliban have so far allowed girls only to attend middle school and women to work in the health sector alone.
Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, a member of the Taliban leadership, said in an interview with the BBC that the government to be announced soon would include all ethnic groups.
He, however, has emphasized that former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the Supreme Council of National Reconciliation in the government of Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, will not be present in the new government.
He also referred to the participation of women in the new government and said that women could play a role in the new government by observing the hijab and Islamic law, as well as provided they did not cooperate with the US government. However, he stressed that women could not work at the ministerial level in the next government.
ENDS
