Founder of Afghan girls’ school project arrested in Kabul

The founder of a project that campaigned for girls' education in Afghanistan has been detained by Taliban authorities in Kabul, his brother and the United Nations said Tuesday. According to agency report Matiullah Wesa, the head of PenPath was stopped by men outside a mosque after prayers on Monday evening. The brother of Matiullah Wesa, education activist and founder of PenPath, said that Wesa has been arrested by Islamic Emirate forces. The Islamic Emirate denied his arrest. he UN mission in Afghanistan confirmed in a tweet that Matiullah had been arrested.

Matiullah Wesa, head of @PenPath1 and advocate for girls’ education, was arrested in #Kabul Monday. UNAMA calls on the de facto authorities to clarify his whereabouts, the reasons for his arrest and to ensure his access to legal representation and contact with family. pic.twitter.com/D6N1mjWxLv

— UNAMA News (@UNAMAnews) March 28, 2023

The organisation Matiullah founded — which campaigns for schools and distributes books in rural areas — has long dedicated itself to communicating the importance of girls’ education to village elders. Since the ban on secondary schools for girls, Wesa has continued visiting remote areas to drum up support from locals. “We held meetings with locals and we will continue our protest if the schools remain closed.”

We are counting hours, mins and seconds for the opening of girls schools. The damage that closure of schools causes is irreversible and undeniable. We held meetings with locals and we will continue our protest if the schools remain closed. #PenPathGirlsEduCampaign #LetHerLearn pic.twitter.com/oLwD7vISEr

— Matiullah Wesa مطيع الله ويسا (@matiullahwesa) March 21, 2023

Taliban leaders — who have also banned women from university — have repeatedly claimed they will reopen schools for girls once certain conditions have been met. They say they lack the funds and time to remodel the syllabus along Islamic lines. Taliban authorities made similar assurances during their first stint in power — from 1996 to 2001 — but girls’ schools never opened in five years. According to media reports, the order against girls’ education is believed to have been made by Afghanistan’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and his ultra-conservative aides, who are deeply sceptical of modern education — especially for women.