Nahdlatul Ulama invites Afghan authorities to respect women's right to education

Jakarta, March 25 (ANTARA) - Chairperson of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) K.H. Yahya Cholil Staquf has urged the current Afghan authorities to respect women's rights, particularly the right to education. “Today, we have got the news from Afghanistan that female students have been expelled from their schools, and female students above 12 years old have been instructed to go back home and have been prohibited to return to school indefinitely,” he said in a statement here on Friday. Staquf made the statement during the national meeting and inauguration of executives of PBNU institutions at the Islamic Institute of Cipasung in Tasikmalaya, West Java. The Afghan authorities, currently ruled by the Taliban, have provided no reason for their decision to expel female students, which disregards women's right to education, he said. “We have no idea about what kind of concept the current Afghan authority espouses. Do they intend to create a specialized education system for Afghan women? We have no idea,” the PBNU chairperson remarked. Nahdlatul Ulama has urged the Afghan authorities to respect women's rights by providing equal opportunity to women to access education, he said. “There is a lot of advantages of assuring the equal right of education to women, such as what the NU has done for years,” he noted. The chairperson pointed out that the PBNU has accomplished many things by ensuring equal right to education for women. “Today, we have accomplished many things because we have women with many capabilities among us,” Staquf said. He then called the Afghan authorities to ensure equal right to education and provide the best quality of education to Afghan women. “Please give your daughters the best education you can provide, because they are all the ones who will determine the picture of your next generation,” he remarked.