Afghan men stand in support of women after Taliban college ban

Bloomberg

More than a dozen male university teachers in Afghanistan have resigned and several male students walked out of their classrooms in support of female students who were forced out of higher education following a Taliban decree.
“I don’t wish to continue working somewhere where there is an organised discrimination against innocent and talented girls of this country by those in power,” Obaidullah Wardak, a Kabul University professor who quit in protest, said on Twitter, calling the ban on women education “unjust and immoral.”
Some women and girls also took to the streets in the capital Kabul, chanting “education for all.” Local media reported Taliban soldiers hit the protesters with sticks and whips, while detaining five of them along with two journalists covering the event. Elsewhere, a social media post by Afghan Peace Watch showed several male students walking out of their classes in protest, while video footage showed girls weeping inside a class when hearing about the ban from a teacher.
The Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem announced the ban on women attending university. Members of the group wasted no time in enforcing the decree.
The decision to bar women from universities sparked outrage in the country and across the world. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the decision would stymie the Taliban’s efforts to gain recognition and support at a time when the country is suffering from severe poverty.