After years of struggle, once again fears are growing that Afghan women will suffer harsh treatment they encountered during the 1990s when the Taliban imposed their hard-line interpretation of Sharia law- a form of oppression that helped make Afghanistan a pariah state at the time.
On Friday, the co-founder of Afghanistan’s only girls boarding school, Shabana Basij-Rasikh, posted a video on Twitter showing her burning her students’ records. She stated this was being done not to erase them, but to protect students and their families from the Taliban.
“Nearly 20 years later, as the founder of the only all-girls boarding school in Afghanistan, I’m burning my students’ records not to erase them, but to protect them and their families. As the world focuses on the dramatic – those Afghans who are managing to get out – the fire in me to invest in the education of Afghan girls who have no way outgrows brighter, stronger, and louder,” she tweeted.
In March 2002, after the fall of Taliban, thousands of Afghan girls were invited to go to the nearest public school to participate in a placement test because the Taliban had burned all female students’ records to erase their existence. I was one of those girls. 1/6— Shabana Basij-Rasikh (@sbasijrasikh) August 20, 2021
“My students, colleagues, and I are safe with enormous gratitude to our ever vibrant global village. The time to appropriately express my gratitude will come. But right now there are many who aren’t or increasingly don’t feel safe. I’m broken & devastated for them,” she added.
She further explained that she was making the statement that she burned records to reassure safety for the families of her students.
“ As I focus on the safety and well-being of my students, I don’t plan on making any further comments,” she tweeted.
She also posted a link seeking donations for her school SOLA (School of Leadership Afghanistan), which means peace in Pashto. Her mission is to provide a rigorous education to girls that promote self-respect, confidence, critical thinking, and a sense of purpose.
Basij-Rasikh also narrated a personal experience that drove her towards the cause of educating girls. She talked about how, after the fall of the Taliban in March 2002, many Afghan girls were invited to go to the nearest public school to participate in a placement test because the Taliban had burned all female students’ records to erase their existence. She was one of those girls, she said.
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