Zakir Naik gets schooled by Malala's father for defending Taliban on girls' education
Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is facing backlash from Ziauddin Yousafzai and other public figures for defending the Taliban's restrictions on girls' education. Naik claimed the ban is a temporary safety measure, a stance critics have labeled as a dangerous rationalization of gender apartheid.
Why it matters
The debate highlights the ongoing global tension between religious interpretation and human rights, specifically regarding the systematic exclusion of women from public life in Afghanistan.
NEW DELHI: Fugitive Islamic preacher Zakir Naik was criticised for defending access to education for women under Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which has notoriously restricted the equal rights of Afghan women.Naik, booked under India's stringent UAPA for terror-linked activities, said: "Everything that comes in the media is not true. The spokesperson of the Taliban said the situation there (in Afghanistan) is not very safe for women."The fugitive preacher said a Taliban ambassador assured him lesser restrictions when "safety is secured"."As far as I checked with the ambassador of the Taliban, they have women's education at all levels till Standard 6. So primary education is there for all females.
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