Feeling the love of Islam: Children wade through the ruins of their school, blown up by the Taliban in January, 2009
And I’m a banana:
The Taliban have abandoned their opposition to female education in Afghanistan, the country’s education minister has claimed.
Farooq Wardak told the UK’s Times Educational Supplement a “cultural change” meant the Taliban were “no more opposing girls’ education”.
Under the Taliban regime, women in Afghanistan were not allowed to work or get an education.
Mr Wardak made his comments while in London for the Education World Forum.
He told the TES: “What I am hearing at the very upper policy level of the Taliban is that they are no more opposing education and also girls’ education.
“I hope, Inshallah (God willing), soon there will be a peaceful negotiation, a meaningful negotiation with our own opposition and that will not compromise at all the basic human rights and basic principles which have been guiding us to provide quality and balanced education to our people,” he added.
‘Financed salaries’
Last October, Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed unofficial talks with Taliban leaders were under way in an attempt to end the bloody insurgency that has wracked the troubled country for more than nine years.
Last October, Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed unofficial talks with Taliban leaders were under way in an attempt to end the bloody insurgency that has wracked the troubled country for more than nine years.
Mr Wardak’s words suggest the negotiations have gone beyond issues like the release of prisoners to touch on areas of government policy.
The education minister admitted historical opposition to schooling extended beyond the Taliban to the “deepest pockets” of Afghan society.
“That is the reason that in many provinces of Afghanistan we do not have either male or female teacher.
“During the Taliban era the percentage of girls of the one million students that we had was 0%. The percentage of female teachers was 0%.
“Today 38% of our students and 30% of our teachers are female,” he said.
Mr Wardak also criticised the UK government for not providing more money for schools in Afghanistan.
The UK’s Department for International Development spent £12m on schooling in Afghanistan in 2009-10.
A spokeswoman said the UK remained committed to improving education in Afghanistan.
“Last year, the British government financed the salaries of 169,000 teachers through the Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund.
“Through the national solidarity programme, we have helped Afghan communities to build schools in every province of the country,” she said.
The Taliban had destroyed over 500 girls’ schools in Pakistan alone by 2009. That is their education policy – and they are not about to change it now.“Female education is against Islamic teachings and spreads vulgarity in society” – Shah Dauran, Taliban leader, Swat, Pakistan NW Territories
Although apologists and dhimmis will try to push the ‘company line’ that Islam ‘encourages female education’, they have also fallen for the Taqiyya.
Islam encourages only the religious education of women – that in itself often extending only to inculcating girls into their subservient and inferior role in Islamic life.
We suspect that, as the war in Afghanistan goes into surrender mode, with just about every Western leader and Afghan politician tallking about ‘dialogue’ with the Taliban, some are seeing the glint of your taxpayer $£€¥; and modifying their language appropriately.
But they are not about to change that policy now – the policy of Mohammed – no matter what they say for public consumption.
You don’t go from gassing young girls in their own schools to welcoming their education within a year – unless there’s plenty of Jizya involved.
[Source: BBC News]
