Kabul professor rips up degrees on live TV protesting women's university ban

A Kabul university professor ripped up his academic diplomas on live television in Afghanistan on Tuesday, in a show of defiance against the Taliban’s recent move to ban women from higher education. 

Ismail Mashal was in tears as he tore his degree certificates into pieces during a news broadcast on independent TV channel TOLOnews.  

“After the closure of schools and universities in the face of my daughters and sisters, yesterday I took all my educational documents and tore them up in front of the media,” said Mashal after his appearance. 

“My mother and father studied for more than 15 years and I was able to teach in several universities for 14 years. Now under the government of the Islamic Emirate, they tell me I must stay silent.” 

“My friends say don't fight, don't go to the press because there is no freedom in this country. Every day my mother and father say they will kill you, Marwat your daughter will become an orphan,” said the Kabul professor. 

د پوهنتون استاد اسمعیل مشعل طالبانو وروستیو فرمانونو په غبرګون کې د ټلویزیون په ژوندۍ خپرونه کې خپل د لېسانس او ماسټرۍ سندونه څیرې کړل. pic.twitter.com/Z1A6ussliq

— Abdulhaq Omeri (@AbdulhaqOmeri) December 27, 2022

At least 48 male Afghan professors have now resigned their roles in protest, from universities in Kandahar, Kabul, Paktia and elsewhere. 

Last week, Taliban authorities stopped university education for women, sparking international outrage and demonstrations in Afghan cities. 

On Saturday, they announced the exclusion of women from NGO work, a move that already has prompted four major international aid agencies to suspend operations in Afghanistan.

Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and minorities when they took power last year, the Taliban have widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

They have banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms.