Going to private classes by bus to learn English lessons in Kabul city, having fun chatting with friends, laughing and learning new things for an hour every day is part of Shabana’s daily routine.
This hour is a short break from the emptiness that has surrounded her life since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
If she had been in another country, she would have been able to get the qualifying certificate required by next year to make her dream of doing a business degree come true.
But, she is in Afghanistan. The country has banned education for three years without allowing all teenage girls to study.
Now that a new law has come in that it is a crime for a woman to raise her voice after crossing the house, even the smallest moments of joy that keep life pleasant are filled with fear.
“We will be scared if we come out. We are afraid of being on the bus. We don’t even have the courage to take off our curtain. We also stopped talking to ourselves for fear that if anyone the Taliban listened to us, they would question us,” Shabana said.
The Ministry of Promotion and Prevention of Atrocities has unlimited powers to enforce a strict code of conduct in the case of Afghan citizens, such as the Morality Police in Iran.
On women who have already lost much of their freedom with many stringent restrictions, this is another thunderbolt.
“If you can’t talk, why live? We are roaming around like living creatures,” shabana said.
“After coming to know about the new law, I decided not to attend the English course anymore. Because if I go out I’ll talk about something. That could be an accident for me. It is also doubtful to come home safely. But my mother encouraged me to study,” says Shabana.
Within three years of taking over the country, it became clear that even though the Taliban did not impose strict laws, the people would exercise control of themselves out of fear.
Now women are seen in small numbers on the streets of cities like Kabul. Almost all the women are covered with loose black robes or dark blue burqas from head to toe. Due to the effect of the decree announced last year, most women cover their face so that only the eyes are visible.
“Every moment it feels like we are in jail. It has also become difficult to breathe here,” said Nausheen, a rights activist.
