With its victory last year August, the Taliban officially ended its “holy war” that they had waged brutally for almost two decades. But the hardline Islamist group continues another ruthless war, albeit without spilling blood - its righteous war against Afghan women.

The latest in the series of assaults is the group’s new order asking women employees of the finance ministry to recommend their male relatives so that they can get rid of women employees, according to a report by The Guardian.

Several female employees working in the ministries have confirmed receiving calls from the Taliban officials, seeking a replacement for their jobs through their male relatives. 

“Workload in the office has increased and they need to hire a man instead of us”, one of them told The Guardian.

However, replacement by men isn’t possible for every job, especially in cases where women hold higher professional skills and qualifications.

“This is a difficult and technical position I was trained for and have years of experience in. And even if he could do the same work eventually, what would happen to me?” 37-year-old Mariyam, who holds a master's degree in business management and has worked in the ministry for 15 years, was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Almost 60 other female employees of the ministry received similar calls from Taliban officials, she confirmed. Furthermore, several women complained of drastic cuts in their salaries and others stopped getting salaries altogether.

Moreover, despite promising to open schools for girls, the ultraconservative regime is yet to resume classes for secondary-level school girls.

There are reports that the Taliban would allow them to schools only after revising the curriculum to exclude important subjects like mathematics and science. The goal, through such revision of the school curriculum by the Taliban, seems to be making them ineligible for higher professional studies, thus making them unsuitable for jobs.

Last year, soon after seizing power, Taliban officials told women working in government ministries to sit at home and not to return to offices. Thousands of women lost their jobs within days.

For women, the Taliban’s return becomes a new dark reality, almost similar to that of the 90s, something a whole new aspiration generation raised in the last two decades was not accustomed to. Not many of them had imagined the disastrous changes that would follow upon the Taliban’s return.
  (SAM)