43-year-old businesswoman teaches girls in 'secrecy' under Taliban

Kabul, March 25

Despite the Taliban being in power, an Afghan entrepreneur has brought a fresh wave of change in the country by helping young girls receive education in diverse subjects, Khaama Press reported.

‘Teaching 500 girls’

• The businesswoman established Mother Educational Center following the shift in government
• The institution offers 500 girls the chance to get instruction in various fields
• The girls are taught maths, physics, painting, photography, jewellery creation, and the English language, Khaama Press reported

The 43-year-old female entrepreneur, who before the Taliban takeover used to run a restaurant in Kabul is now teaching girls under ‘secrecy’.

She opted to stay in Afghanistan and offer a safety net to certain Afghan women who had nowhere else to go rather than leaving the nation.

“I felt as though an earthquake had struck and taken everything away from me,” Khaama Press quoted the female entrepreneur as saying. Taj Begum restaurant was closed as the Taliban did not allow women to run such businesses. But leaving with the thousands of others fearing a return to the Taliban’s brutal rule of the 1990s was not an option for the trailblazer.

“Half of society has been wiped out from the face of the earth. As a woman, I have taken it upon myself to act not only for my own benefit but for the benefit of all women,” she said according to the Afghan news agency.

The Afghan businesswoman established the Mother Educational Center following the shift in government (MEC). The institution offers 500 girls the chance to get instruction in a variety of areas, including maths, physics, painting, photography, jewellery creation, and the English language, Khaama Press reported.

After the fall of the Ashraf Ghani government and the Taliban taking over Kabul, the country’s females are the worst sufferers. Females in the country are prohibited from leadership posts and are not allowed to travel unless accompanied by a male companion.

The Taliban promised to reopen all schools on March 23, 2022, but on that day they once more closed secondary institutions for girls.

There is still no word on when or if these schools will reopen or if the ban is indefinite.

According to the Taliban, women’s rights are an internal issue in Afghanistan and foreign countries should not interfere.

“They should understand their responsibilities regarding Afghanistan. They impose their sanctions on the people of Afghanistan, on these women. They have frozen the money and don’t allow improvement,” said Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid.