Friday, January 10, 2003
Afghan governor further restricts female education
Reuters Herat, January 10
The governor of the western Afghan city of Herat, Ismail Khan, has placed further restrictions on women's education by banning women being taught by men in privately run courses, officials said on Friday.
Classes are already segregated in Herat, but the new rules, which officials said were based on traditional Islamic values, will also prevent women attending classes in a building at the same time men are being taught.
"The present teaching method is in contradiction with our Islamic and cultural principles," Mohammad Deen Fahim, deputy head of Herat's educational department told reporters. "Those who ignore the order will have their courses shut."
The new rules are the latest in a series of restrictions on women introduced by the powerful and conservative governor Khan, that have come under fire from international human rights groups, a scenario reminiscent of the era of Taliban rule.
Critics said they make it more difficult for women to learn English or computing skills, in a city where female teachers in these subjects are in desperately short supply.
"We don't have women teachers," one course organiser said. "They should either allow us to continue our courses or bring female lecturers from abroad."
Male lecturers will still be allowed to give classes to women at Herat University, officials said.
Last year, Khan banned wedding parties in the city's restaurants after Herat's Religious Council called the practice un-Islamic, since men and women mingled and sometimes danced together at the parties.
Khan lifted the ban briefly after a bride burnt herself to death in protest, but later re-imposed the rule. He has also banned women from going to parks at night, or driving in the same car as a man who is not a close relative.
WOMEN MARGINALISED
New York-based Human Rights Watch has criticised Khan for policing almost every aspect of women's lives in the city and marginalising them politically, economically and socially.
But it said conditions for women in the city were undoubtedly better than during the rule of the fundamentalist Taliban.
Under the Taliban women had no access to education and were banned from most employment outside the home. They were also forced to cover themselves from from head to toe in shapeless traditional garments called burqas.
Strict interpretations of Islamic law were relaxed in many parts of Afghanistan after the Taliban's demise, and music, television and cinema have made a comeback in most parts of the country, including in Herat. Khan has won respect from many Afghans for his struggle against Soviet occupation and later against Taliban rule, and is seen by many as an efficient governor in Herat.
Human Rights Watch also accused him of persecuting and detaining his opponents. Khan rejects the charges, and has vowed repeatedly to struggle against un-Islamic culture.
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