COMMENT | Madani and Taliban's ban on women in education

“I have received many questions about this matter. We do not want the visit to be misinterpreted as Malaysia condoning or not opposing their (Taliban’s) ban on women studying at secondary schools and universities.”

- DAP national chairperson Lim Guan Eng

COMMENT | This is the question Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has to answer about hosting the Taliban’s visit to Malaysia.

This is also a question for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who in Rio De Janeiro reportedly “reaffirmed Malaysia’s commitment to supporting halal-related matters, besides efforts to uplift the status of Islam through education and dakwah (teachings) to the Muslim community in Brazil.”

DAP national chairperson Lim Guan Eng was correct when he referenced “gender apartheid” when it came to this most secretive of visits. At the heart of it, what we are dealing with is the Taliban’s total annihilation of women from public - and one could even argue private - domains.

Let me be very clear. Our education minister invited a group of people who, if they ruled Malaysia, would have her thrown out of office.

Young women in universities and schools would be banished to their homes. Women in the workforce would be expelled to their homes. Women in public service, which includes the state security apparatus, would be evicted from their jobs and sent to their homes.

What we take for granted here, the faces of women in every sector of our public lives would only be a memory.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has claimed that Western propaganda tarnished the image of the Taliban. He said the Taliban has changed.

Two years ago, Hadi said this of the education issue and pooh-poohed the so-called ban on women and education:

“Does the ban (on education for girls) include learning fardu ain (religious obligations)? The compulsory education to know God, pray to him, be of good character, eat and drink halal, and dress in an Islamic fashion and all its customs.

“Maybe for the enemies of Islam, such matters are not part of education.”

Example of extremism

Shahidullah Shahid, deceased Taliban spokesperson turned Islamic State (IS) supporter, said this about the attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai, who was 15 at the time:

“Malala targeted and criticised Islam.

“She was against Islam and we tried to kill her, and if we get a chance again we will definitely try to kill her, and we will feel proud killing her.”

Malala, on the other hand, observed, “I spoke of the irony of the Taliban wanting female teachers and doctors for women yet not letting girls go to school to qualify for these jobs.”

Remember when political operatives in this country used the Taliban as an example of extremism, not a group to be legitimised? Back in 2016, former communications and multimedia minister Salleh Said Keruak hinted that if anyone wanted to erase Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s legacy, this could be done by tearing down the Petronas Twin Towers.

Remember what Rafidah Aziz said, “Are we adopting the approaches of Osama bin Laden (the late Al-Qaeda leader) and the Taliban?

“Does heritage mean anything to anyone in authority? Our collective past, our history. What we stood and still stand for?"

Legitimising the Taliban

And legitimising the Taliban is what the Madani government and Fadhlina have done. Think about this for a moment. What did PAS-led Perikatan Nasional say about Lim’s legitimate query? Two statements need to be examined.

The first - “We support the education minister in providing expertise and knowledge to develop Afghanistan, just as Malaysia provides the same assistance to countries that have just achieved independence.”

And the second - “As a Muslim country, we should help our friends who have achieved independence. We urge the Malaysian government to strengthen relations with the Afghan government that has been officially elected by the people of that country.”

Firstly, as to the question of independence, I really do not want to get into the history of this mess, but were the lives of people, especially women, better before or after this so-called independence?

Secondly, if this were a democratically elected government, did women vote for the Taliban and what was their educational platform?

More importantly, in terms of optics, this paints a very queer portrait of this visit. According to Lim, Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh, who is from DAP, was not aware of this visit. Why is that?

The education minister claimed, “That is the cause I will continue to champion wherever I am, regardless of my position. I want the world to learn from Malaysia where we have much experience in championing education.”

Okay, so why wasn’t your deputy minister informed of this visit so he too could contribute to the education of the Taliban delegation?

If this was to showcase Malaysia’s educational system, why wasn’t it all hands on deck as opposed to, well, we do not really know what went down, because everything was done in a sub rosa (secretive) manner.

Did the Taliban visit local universities? Did they visit local secondary schools? Did they visit the Education Ministry? What did they think of all the women working and studying in these places which are exclusively supposed to be for men?

Question of Islam

The education minister said, “But if I could convince them that educating women is not contrary to Islam but is in line with Islamic values, then it would be very meaningful for women in Afghanistan when they can return to school.”

It is important for the education minister to address this point in Parliament. I would like to know exactly how she attempted to convince them that educating women was not contrary to Islam.

I want to know exactly what materials and arguments the minister relied on and more importantly, I want to know that if the minister thinks what the Taliban is doing is contrary to Islam, why were these people who are acting contrary to Islam invited to Malaysia?

After all, the Madani regime has banned other deviant groups like Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) that have abused women and children.

Or does she believe what the Taliban is doing is perfectly within the confines of Islam as Hadi implies? Then what good would it do to expose them to our education system and why is she attempting to convince them to go against Islam?

If what the Taliban is doing is unIslamic, will the Madani government publicly acknowledge that what the Taliban is doing with regard to women and education is contrary to Islam?

I realise getting an answer from Madani is as “slim as onion skin”.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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