JOHANNESBURG: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday likened restrictions the Taliban have placed on women in Afghanistan to the treatment of Black people under apartheid in a lecture in South Africa organized by Nelson Mandela’s foundation.
Yousafzai survived being shot in the head when she was 15 in her native Pakistan by a gunman after campaigning against the Pakistani Taliban’s moves to deny girls education.
Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, Yousafzai, now 26, has become a global symbol of the resilience of women in the face of repression.
“If you are a girl in Afghanistan, the Taliban have decided your future for you. You cannot attend a secondary school or university. You cannot find an open library where you can read. You see your mothers and your older sisters confined and constrained,” Yousafzai said during the 21st Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg.
Yousafzai said the Taliban actions should be considered “gender apartheid” and that they had “in effect ... made girlhood illegal.”
She said international actors should not normalize relations with the Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.
A Taliban spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Yousafzai’s remarks.
Since returning to power, the Taliban have also stopped most Afghan female staff from working at aid agencies, closed beauty salons, barred women from parks and curtailed travel for women in the absence of a male guardian.
The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan custom and that officials are working on plans to open girls’ high schools, but after over 18 months they have not provided a timeframe.
In an interview after her lecture, Yousafzai said she was concerned the Taliban would take away sciences and critical thinking even from boys.
“It’s so important for the international community to not only step up to protect access to education for girls but also ensure that it is quality education, it is not indoctrination,” she said.
Referring to the war in Gaza, she said she wanted to see an immediate cease-fire and for children to be able return to school and their normal lives.
She added: “We look at wars, ... especially the bombardment that has happened in Gaza, ... that has just taken that normal life away from children.”
Malala Yousafzai likens Taliban’s treatment of women to apartheid in Mandela lecture
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Malala Yousafzai likens Taliban’s treatment of women to apartheid in Mandela lecture
- The Pakistan-born Nobel Peace Prize winner says the Taliban have ‘made girlhood illegal’ in Afghanistan
- She warns the Taliban will take away ‘critical thinking’ from men after implementing ‘gender apartheid’
Punjab warns of action against hoarders as Islamabad seals petrol stations denying fuel
- Long queues of vehicles were seen outside fuel stations as Pakistan announced a hike in petroleum prices late Friday
- The Punjab Enforcement Regulatory Authority says fuel stations involved in hoarding will have their licenses revoked
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Punjab province on Saturday warned of action against the ones hoarding petroleum products, while authorities in federal capital of Islamabad sealed seven petrol stations for denying fuel to motorists, amid global supply constraints due to the Middle East tensions.
Global oil markets have been rattled since coordinated strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran began last week, triggering retaliatory attacks across the region, raising fears of disruption of key energy shipping routes and pushing petroleum prices upward.
Pakistan announced a hike of Rs55 ($0.20) per liter in petrol and diesel prices late Friday, with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and others saying they were monitoring international energy markets and domestic supply conditions to bring down the prices as soon as the conflict is resolved.
In a statement issued from her office, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz assured the masses that the province had ample stock of petroleum products and the Punjab Enforcement Regulatory Authority (PERA) had been tasked with ensuring supply in the region.
“A grand operation has been launched against hoarders and profiteers of petroleum products,” the statement said, adding that fuel stations found creating artificial shortages would be immediately sealed and their licenses revoked.
Separately, officials in Islamabad sealed seven petrol stations after long queues of vehicles were seen at some stations on Friday night, according to the Islamabad district administration. It said the city had over 2.5 million liters of petrol and more than 1.5 million liters of diesel available.
“[Fuel stations in] seven cases of refusal to provide petrol to citizens were sealed,” the district administration added.
Pakistan has sent vessels to ports in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to secure crude oil supplies, the petroleum minister said late Friday.
“With the help of the Foreign Office, two Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) vessels are currently on their way, one toward Yanbu port and the other toward Fujairah port, to bring crude oil from outside the Hormuz region in order to meet Pakistan’s energy needs,” Malik said on Friday night.
In addition, he said, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco had also assured that if Pakistan arranged, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) can be loaded at Yanbu and stationed near the Pakistani waters.
