74 Afghan School Girls Allegedly Poisoned

The Taliban are allegedly poisoning school girls again in Afghanistan. A common occurrence in a country with elements that want women to remain uneducated, this time around 74 girls in the Bibi Maryam school in Taluqan, Takhar province, became sick after smelling a noxious gas. The girls were transported to the local hospital to determine what sickened them. Hospital head, Dr. Jamil Frotan said:

"We have already sent samples of their blood to the Ministry of Public Health and it will soon become clear what the reason for their illness was."

Most of the girls were released, although several are in critical condition. Another girls school in that area was targeted three days earlier, and that poison attack sent a dozen or so to the hospital. No one is claiming responsibility for the two attacks, but it's quite obvious who the perpetrators are.

Last year Takhar experienced numerous poison attacks including 160 girls who were poisoned at the Ahan Dara Girls' High School, and 120 girls and several teachers at a different school.

The fact that women regained their rights to an education, employment and voting in 2001, it hasn't stopped the Taliban from preventing them from doing so.  And the few rights that women have gained, Post Taliban, are going to quickly fade away once we totally pull out of the country.

Taliban Hate Afghan School Girls

The Taliban despise their women folk so much that they want them covered head to toe in burqas, uneducated and at home, or dead.  Ever since the end of the Taliban reign of terror, young girls are back at school, getting the education every human being is entitled to. But the Taliban have been doing their best to make sure that doesn't happen. The cowards have no problem attacking innocent girls' schools with poison, or throwing acid on female students' faces.

The wonderful thing about these girls is that they are resilient. Scared but defiant even those girls who have been mercilessly attacked with acid are determined to get their education, in spite of the dangers and threats by the Taliban. In fact, according to the Quran, every Muslim should seek an education and that includes women, considering they too are Muslim.

"To seek knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim."
(Declared Authentic By Shaikh Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen Al-Albaani)

And yet, the ignorant Taliban oafs seem to think knowledge is the privilege of men only. Thankfully the parents of these girls realize the importance of an education and allow their children to continue to attend school. The girl who suffered the most in the acid attacks had this to say:

“My parents told me to keep coming to school even if I am killed,” said Shamsia, 17, in a moment after class. Shamsia’s mother, like nearly all of the adult women in the area, is unable to read or write. “The people who did this to me don’t want women to be educated. They want us to be stupid things.”

Sometimes one has to make sacrifices and embrace the danger if one is to prevail. And I pray that the women of Afghanistan do just that.