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Afghan activist Pashtana Durrani, who fled to the US, is skeptical of Taliban’s claims
The Taliban claims they will allow women and children to go to school, but that reality has not been realized, says Afghan education activist Pashtana Durrani.
The last time that she spoke with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World, she was in hiding, moving location to location, in order to avoid the Taliban as they took over the country. Now safely in the US after fleeing Afghanistan in October, she is working as a senior fellow at Wellesley College and continuing her work on girls education in the country she fled. Her nonprofit, LEARN, has started emergency relief programs for women and children facing malnutrition and starvation.
“I'll believe them when they open schools for girls. I will believe them when they open working spaces for girls. I'll believe them when they actually walk the talk instead of them claiming whatever they do,” she said in a new interview on GZERO World.
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Afghan girls should stay in school despite Taliban rule, activist says
If you're an Afghan girl, teacher and activist Pashtana Durrani says it's time to tell the Taliban you'll keep going to school because it's your right — and good for Afghanistan after 20 years of relying on the US. "We have to do something on our own, and for that it's very important to start by educating ourselves [...] by becoming a scientist, a doctor, a teacher, to have that human capacity to serve the country for the greater good." Just because a few men in Kabul have changed, she adds, that doesn't justify "that we have to change our way of life for them." Watch her interview with GZERO World's Ian Bremmer.
Watch the full interview: Afghan activist: Taliban won't make us change our way of life
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Afghan activist: Taliban don’t have a plan to run Afghanistan
The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan militarily, but they have yet to show they can also govern — perhaps because they don't have a plan. "Military men can never do public policy. We all know this," says Pashtana Durrani, an Afghan teacher and women's rights activist who's in hiding and moving around the country because she wants to stay to resist Taliban rule. Watch her full interview with GZERO World's Ian Bremmer.
Watch the full interview: Afghan activist: Taliban won't make us change our way of life
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Afghan activist: Taliban won’t make us change our way of life
While many Afghans are trying to flee the country, others have gone into hiding, moving around to escape the Taliban but doing their part to stand up to Afghanistan's new rulers. One of them is teacher and women's rights activist Pashtana Durrani. In a wide-ranging interview with GZERO World's Ian Bremmer, Durrani tackles several hot topics, like what's next for Afghan girls, whether the Taliban can actually govern, and how they'll behave after all Americans are out. "Just because a few men in Kabul, in the Presidential Palace, have changed, that doesn't justify the fact that we have to change our way of life for them." She also pushes back against the Biden administration's claim that the Afghan army didn't want to fight the Taliban, and shares her feelings about the US after 20 years of occupation and war.
Don't blame Afghan army for Taliban rout, Afghan activist tells Biden
After Joe Biden questioned the Afghan army's willingness to confront the Taliban offensive, Afghan teacher and human rights activist Pashtana Durrani — currently in hiding for her safety — has a message for the US president: "Let's not dishonor the Afghan army." They were willing to combat the Taliban, she says, and now is not the time to blame soldiers for what corrupt politicians decided. "Let me assure you that Afghans wanted to fight for themselves." Watch a clip from her interview with Ian Bremmer in an upcoming episode of GZERO World.
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