Reporter: Hamid Mahdi
Translated by Rostam Safdari
In a small classroom in western Kabul, laughter briefly broke the tension. Then two armed Taliban fighters walked in. Silence fell.
“What are you doing here” one of them asked. When a student replied, “Studying,” the fighter said, “You were laughing.” Moments later, the questions shifted to hijabs and why they were not black.
Such scenes have become routine in Kabul’s private education centres, where girls study English and computer skills in the absence of formal schooling. Interviews conducted by Afghanistan Women’s Voice with two directors of educational centres and several students reveal a climate of fear as Taliban agents from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice carry out surprise inspections, sometimes weekly.
The directors say the Taliban monitor classes to ensure boys and girls are not taught together. “They can shut us down anytime,” said the head of one English and computer training centre. “They have done it before. For our students and for us, it is extremely painful and exhausting.”
He described Taliban enforcers as men who reject dialogue and logic. “They do not understand basic human principles. They only understand beards and turbans. Violence defines them.” He said agents frequently storm classrooms without any prior warning. “I try to calm them with respectful phrases such as Qari Sahib, Mullah Sahib and Mujahid Sahib, but it does not always work.”
Soraya, a pseudonym, age fourteen, said she stopped attending after three raids in a single month. Her family feared she might be abducted. “If the Taliban allowed it, I would be finishing eighth grade now,” she said, her voice breaking. “Earlier this year, I joined a good educational centre near the main road. After about a month, I stopped going.”
Marzia(pseudonym), another student, recalled the day two armed men stormed her classroom. “Our teacher was explaining the lesson and joking a little, and we laughed. Suddenly, they walked in. They asked what we were doing. Someone said, we are studying. One of the Talib said “you were laughing”. Then they complained about our hijab. Our teacher told them that our hijab was proper. When they could not find another excuse, they asked that why your hijab not black.
A female teacher who did not want her name disclosed said Taliban agents photographed her face to use as evidence to close the educational centre. “I was teaching a boy’s class when four Taliban entered. They mocked me and hurled insults at me and cut me off when I tried to explain. Then they took my photo to show their superiors as proof of shutting us down. They even threatened me”
These accounts, according to Afghanistan Women’s Voice, represent only a small sample of a much larger and more severe reality. English and computer classes for girls continue in some areas, but only in limited form and under strict restrictions. Taliban monitoring has placed intense psychological pressure on teachers, students and families. Many parents now refuse to send their daughters to class, fearing abduction.
