Manzoor Pashteen, the leader of the Pashtun Protection Movement, has called on members of the Grand Jirga of Pashtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to support the reopening of educational institutions for girls and women in Afghanistan.
Mr. Pashteen stated that the members of the Jirga should consider the issue of girls’ education in their resolution.
He urged the participants of the Jirga to ask the current Afghan government to open the doors of education to girls.
He emphasized: “I propose to this Jirga that five million Pashtuns, including political leaders and members of other parties, jointly request the caretaker government of Afghanistan to allow girls’ education.”
Previously, Manzoor Pashteen equated the deprivation of Afghan women from education with Afghanistan’s backwardness and called for full access for women and girls in the country to their rights to education and work.
Despite repeated and widespread calls to lift the ban on educational and employment opportunities for Afghan women, the current government has maintained its stance and has interpreted any discussions or proposals on this matter as “interference in its internal affairs.”
In addition to Afghanistan, many girls’ schools have also been closed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In this province, the Pakistani Taliban has significant influence, a group that follows the ideology of the current Afghan government and has pledged allegiance to its leader.
