Educating girls reveals a struggle between Taliban "doves and hawks".

Kabul -

 The problem of governance is perhaps more complex than war and armed conflict. Thus, the Taliban government in Afghanistan faces the complexities of several issues in light of its attempt to normalize relations with the international community.

The most prominent of these crises was the movement’s decision to temporarily ban women from education in middle and high schools and universities, a crisis that cast a shadow, not only on the nascent government’s relationship with the international community, but also revealed differences within the movement.

Between those who can be described as "doves" and "hawks".

Observers say that the leaders of the movement that undertook the negotiations in Doha before the American withdrawal and the movement's control of the capital and the declaration of the government were marginalized, after military leaders took control of the government, and this team became closest to making decisions of the leader of the movement, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzadeh, which was evident in the decision to prevent Suddenly educating women.

Kandahar meeting

In this context, and inside the city of Kandahar, the stronghold of the Taliban in the south, he met the leader of the movement and Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi, the acting deputy prime minister, and the ministers of interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and the defense minister, Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub Mujahid, as well as the head of the intelligence service, Mullah Abdul Haq Wathiq.

The visit of the government delegation came at the request of the Taliban leader to discuss several issues, most notably the attempt to reduce the differences within the movement that have begun to appear to the public, especially with the crisis of women's education and work.

In this context, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Al-Jazeera Net that the leader of the Taliban held a meeting with a group of religious scholars in the presence of the interior, defense and foreign ministers, and he also listened to the opinions of scholars on a number of basic and important issues in Afghanistan.

During the meeting, the Taliban leader asked the attendees - clearly - not to make statements about controversial issues, because they raise suspicions about unity in the emirate and lead to division of obedience, according to an informed government source who spoke to Al Jazeera Net.

The source revealed that the leader of the Taliban assigned a committee headed by Chief Justice Sheikh Abdul Hakim Haqqani to look into women’s education and work, and then submitted its report to him for approval or rejection, stressing that the decision to close private schools and universities is in the hands of the Taliban leader, and that he justifies his decision that the mixed system in Educational departments and the curriculum needs a comprehensive religious review, and this is the reason for the disagreement between him and a number of Taliban leaders.

Women's education

And last December, about two months after the formation of its government, the Taliban decided - to the surprise of the Minister of Education himself - to close girls' schools, and prevent 3 million girls from education.

At first, a number of officials ignored the decision and the study began in 17 Afghan states, but after a while the Taliban leader insisted on implementing his decision.

A source in the Ministry of Education told Al-Jazeera Net, "The former Minister of Education, Sheikh Nur Allah Munir, who was defending the right of women to study, was dismissed, and to some extent ignored the implementation of the decision, until Sheikh Habibullah was appointed in his place and ordered the closure of all intermediate and secondary construction schools, The same thing happened in the Ministry of Higher Education, and Sheikh Nada Muhammad was appointed to implement the decision to prevent girls from continuing their education in universities.

For his part, former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Ibrahim Shinwari, says, "The issue of gender segregation in educational departments is directly related to the traditions and culture of Afghan society. Even the communist government approved gender segregation in educational departments, and the curriculum does not contain materials that oppose Islamic culture."

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Shinwari added, "The main problem is that the Taliban do not recognize women's right to education and work, despite the existence of religious texts proving the opposite."

Disagreements about priority

Two currents emerged regarding women's education and work in Afghanistan: the first current supported her studies and her work in governmental and non-governmental departments, and the leader of the movement called for girls' schools to be opened first, then to start the reform process and fill the gaps in the educational system.

On the other hand, the other movement believes that it is necessary to reform the educational system first, and then allow girls to study in public schools.

The dispute over the priority of women's education comes in the context of a larger dispute that emerged after the Taliban came to power in 2021, over how to deal with the Afghan people and the international community, especially the United States.

Taliban leaders believe that the issue of women's education causes Afghanistan's marginalization at the international level and prevents it from recognizing and dealing with the Taliban government, especially since for more than 10 months no government official has paid a foreign visit, due to the movement's leaders being on the blacklist of the UN Security Council.

In this context, during his speech in Khost Province (southeastern Afghanistan), Sirajuddin Haqqani, deputy leader of the Taliban and acting interior minister, criticized "the status quo, the monopoly of power, and the disregard of the legitimate demands of the Afghan people by the group that seized the leader's decision," which he also repeated. Defense Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub Mujahid, as well as the son of the movement's founder and late leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Mulla Abd al-Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister, also called on scholars who oppose Afghan women's education and work to provide legal evidence supporting their point of view, while the Afghan Foreign Ministry agent and a member of the negotiation committee with the United States, Sher Muhammad Stanekzai, went on not to obey the Emir in matters that contradict Islamic rulings, according to His saying.

Doves and hawks

Experts on Afghan affairs believe that the political bureau that conducted the Doha negotiations with Washington and the leaders that want to deal with the international community have been marginalized, and that a group of scholars close to the leader of the Taliban managed to influence his decision, the most important of which is Sheikh Habibullah Haqqani.

These experts believed that what is happening now in the Afghan political arena does not represent the position of the Taliban movement, but rather the position of its leader and a number of scholars who belong to the southern states only.

On the other hand, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Al-Jazeera Net, "There are no currents in the Taliban movement, and everyone is at the heart of one man, and the recent statements are only a difference in visions."

But the former professor at the French University of Lyon, Rostar Othman Tareh, tells Al-Jazeera Net that there is a disagreement on the main issues and no one can deny it, but they do not talk about it explicitly.

Othman - who does not belong to the movement, but met its leader in Kandahar - confirmed that "there are differences between the Taliban leaders at the political and ideological levels. Using force, taking matters into his own hands and not hearing from the political wing.”