Women in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fear Spread of Taliban-Style Restrictions
Women in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province fear the spread of Taliban-style restrictions on women amid threats from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and attacks on girls' schools.
Afghan girls have been barred from secondary school, high school, and university for five consecutive years. On both sides of the Durand Line, thousands of children have been displaced from schools due to border conflicts and militant attacks, filling temporary refugee camps.
Nahid Afridi, a women's rights activist in Peshawar, stated that no society can progress if women are not allowed to participate in growth and development. She recalled how Afghan women previously worked in schools, universities, government offices, and NGOs but now line up for charity and zakat. Afridi noted that Islam does not require excluding women from society, citing examples from Pakistan and Iran.
Afridi expressed concern over the TTP's announced intention to implement its interpretation of Sharia, similar to Taliban policies in Afghanistan. Restrictions on girls' education have re-emerged in some tribal areas, with schools in Swat and other regions facing repeated threats.
About one month ago, on the 5th of Hoot, unidentified individuals bombed a government school in the Barmal area of South Waziristan, destroying several classrooms, doors, and part of the wall, local officials said. Investigations into the perpetrators continue. In past years, dozens of schools have been set on fire or destroyed with explosives in tribal areas of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in a pattern similar to attacks during the Taliban war with Afghanistan's previous government.
Border conflicts between the Taliban and Pakistan have displaced 200 families from one village in the Khyber area, with many living without shelter.
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