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
https://arab.news/wz4vc
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’
Pakistan Navy launches fourth Hangor-class submarine ‘Ghazi’ in China
- As per Islamabad’s agreement with Beijing, four of eight submarines will be built in China and the rest in Pakistan
- Navy says all four submarines under construction in China undergoing sea trials, in final stages of being handed over
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy announced on Wednesday it has launched the fourth Hangor-class submarine named “Ghazi” at a Chinese shipyard in Wuhan, saying the development will help maintain peace in the region.
Pakistan’s government signed an agreement with China for the acquisition of eight Hangor-class submarines, the navy said in its press release. Under the contract, four submarines are being built in China while the remaining four will be constructed in Pakistan by the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Ltd. company.
“With the launching of GHAZI, Pakistan Navy has achieved another significant milestone where all four submarines under construction in China are now undergoing rigorous sea trials and are in the final stages of being handed over to Pakistan,” the navy said.
It further said that these submarines will be fitted with advanced weapons and sensors capable of engaging targets at standoff ranges.
“Hangor-class submarines will be pivotal in maintaining peace and stability in the region,” the navy added.
Pakistan’s agreement with China is set to strengthen its naval defenses, especially as ties with arch-rival India remain tense.
India and Pakistan were involved in a four-day military confrontation in May this year before Washington intervened and brokered a ceasefire. Four days of confrontation saw the two countries pound each other with fighter jets, exchange artillery fire, missiles and drone strikes before peace prevailed.
Pakistan’s air force used Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets in May to shoot down an Indian Air Force Rafale aircraft, made by France.
The altercation between the nuclear-armed neighbors surprised many in the military community and raised questions over the superiority of Western hardware over Chinese alternatives.
Islamabad has long been Beijing’s top arms customer, and over the 2020-2024 period bought over 60 percent of China’s weapons exports, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
