udents were forced to drop out of school, forget their dreams and spend the rest of their lives at home, or occasionally outside, wearing a burqa. Some woman fought back against the oppression by schooling girls in their homes at the risk of being beaten. Obviously no school supplies could be purchased so many made their teaching aids out of scraps found around the house (Goodwin 110). Ms Goodwin interviewed a woman who wished to remain nameless, yet had started a school for female children, illegally, in her home. She felt that her only way to rebel against the Taliban was to do this thing for the children deprived of education (Goodwin 110). Ms. Goodwin quoted her as saying: “Im scared about what I’m doing but it’s the only way I can fight back” (110). According to this nameless woman, even the children as young as 6 years understand the danger of opposing the Taliban and the consequences that would befall their teacher if the wrong person learned of their illicit schooling (Goodwin 110). It is sad that the pupils have become the outlawed teachers, imparting the small knowledge given to them before the Taliban called education to an end. Perhaps someday education will be attainable for women. 4It is sad to know what it is like to be enthralled by knowledge, then in an instant have it taken away completely, forever.It is commonly held that Islamic woman should wear the hajib (the scarf covering the head and neck) or the burqa (full body and face covering) as a sign of her faith, yet no group has ever before made it mandatory and punished dissent like the Taliban. Peter Marsden, author of The Taliban, stated that the Taliban have been more extreme than any other in requiring that women’s faces be covered (91). The requirement that the burqa be worn has imposed many constraints on the average Muslim family. When the Taliban banned women entering the workforce, they took away half the economy of ma...
