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New Delhi [India]Chinanews.com, March 19 (Xinhua) According to the Voice of America report, a 27-year-old female student from Afghanistan, a country where women fight for human rights, won a gold medal with excellent results in a master’s program at a university in India.
She dedicated the medal to all Afghan women who did not receive higher education.
After accomplishing the feat, her mind flashed back to her homeland, which was taken over by the Taliban in 2021, and where it is not uncommon for a woman to pursue her dreams.
When she was growing up in the Bamiyan region of Afghanistan, the future was bright. She worked during the day and took classes at night to study for a bachelor’s degree.
Muradi told VOA that life is calm and normal.
Women have full access to higher education. Girls want to learn a lot. Families encourage their daughters to pursue higher education.
Two years ago, she came to India on a scholarship to study for a Masters in Public Administration. She is one of tens of thousands of Afghans who have studied at Indian universities over the past 20 years since 2001.
She wants to go back and use her degree in policymaking to find a job so she can help modernize Afghanistan, like many of these young students.
When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, everything changed dramatically. Like many other women, she fears that the country could return to the dark ages that older generations are all too familiar with.
This month, Muradi won the gold medal for having the highest grade point average in his course at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University in western Gujarat state. For her, it was a moment of immense pride and anguish.
“I dedicate this achievement to all the women who don’t have the opportunity to learn,” she told VOA.
“At some point in time, girls like me wanted to give that opportunity back to them somehow. This medal is a testament to what women can do.”
Muradi said she sees herself as representing Afghan women who lack access to education.
The Taliban earlier banned girls from secondary school, preventing millions of girls from continuing their sixth-grade education. The Taliban dealt a second blow to female education in December when it banned women from college.
Hardline Islamists have been restricting women’s rights and freedoms since the group took power. Women are no longer allowed to travel alone, go to parks or exercise in public without male relatives.
For Afghan women like Moradi, any hope that the Taliban would stick to its original promise of a more liberal regime has been dashed.
Muradi said: “I feel broken from the inside. Everything that happened in the 1990s is repeating itself. I came to India with hope lost and I don’t see any bright future for myself. I don’t know if I will be able to go back. Seeing my family. I’ve been struggling with these thoughts.”
At a time of turmoil in her country, it was difficult for her to pursue a master’s degree. A report published by Voice of America said she expressed concern for her family but claimed to have tried to remain calm because there was nothing she could do but was grateful that she was one of the few Afghan women still in education.
She also said, “I have to manage the pressure. Every time I think about Afghanistan, I tell myself that it is my responsibility to take advantage of this opportunity that no other girl in my country can take anymore. So, I have to focus on what if I want to bring Come change, my learning and capacity building.”
Muradi is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Administration at the same university.
In a message to the Taliban, she said, “I think the Taliban need to rethink deprivation of women’s education. If they want to rule, they cannot ignore women. Women will protest and at some point, they will stand up and demand to win them rights. Otherwise, half the country’s population will be rendered useless,” VOA reported. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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