Students were seen running down corridors and chatting in the courtyards. As the school re-opened the students seemed unaware of the turmoil that the country had been going through in the past two weeks
In the western Afghan city of Herat, as schools reopened, the principal of a girls’ institution, Basira Basiratkha, expressed cautious optimism, saying she was “grateful to God” that they have been able to reopen.
Girls wearing white hijabs and black tunics sat in the classrooms in Herat just days after the Taliban’s takeover.
Students were seen running down corridors and chatting in the courtyards. As the school re-opened the students seemed unaware of the turmoil that the country had been going through in the past two weeks.
Students said they wanted to progress like other countries and hoped the Taliban would maintain security. They were all completely opposed to war and wanted peace in the country.
Close to the Iranian border, Herat has long been a cosmopolitan exception to more conservative centres. Women and girls walked more freely in the streets, attending schools and colleges in huge numbers. Also, the city is famous for its poetry and arts. However, its long-term future remains uncertain.
Students said they wanted to progress like other countries and hoped the Taliban would maintain security
In the 1990s, when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, women and girls were mostly denied education and employment. Women could only leave home when they were accompanied by a male companion and full face coverings became mandatory in public.
Public floggings and executions, including stoning for adultery, were carried out in city squares and stadiums. What lies ahead for women with the Taliban back in power remains unclear, though the Taliban are attempting to push the narrative that they have watered down some of their more extreme positions.
Even then people have been entering public life cautiously, with women largely absent from the streets of Kabul and men trading their Western clothes for Afghan garb. There is massive concern about the Taliban’s human rights record and Afghans are still trying to flee the country.
