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It was early morning in Kabul, Afghanistan, when Fatima Amiri heard gunshots from inside the classroom. She and hundreds of other students were preparing for college entrance exams at the time, but the girls started screaming in panic. Amiri quickly stood up to calm the class, but when he turned around, he saw a man with a gun deliberately yelling at a student.
“I am afraid; I was trying to take shelter under the table when the explosion happened,” the 17-year-old said.
Amiri lost an eye and an ear in the explosion. His jaw was also badly damaged. In all, 54 other students, mostly girls, were killed.
As a minority, Shi’ites in Afghanistan have been targeted and persecuted for a long time.
Amiri lives near Dasht-e-Barchi, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in the western city of Kabul. Terrorists have targeted Shiite mosques, schools, athletic clubs, and cultural centers. A horrific attack on a maternity ward in 2020 killed 20 civilians, including women and newborn babies.
Amiri knows that going to school from a security point of view is risky. However, he never thought that one day a terrorist would try to kill him inside the classroom.
Undeterred, two weeks after the attack, Amiri appeared for the university entrance exam and was announced as one of the top scorers.
“I want to tell the terrorists that no matter how much oppression you will do, you cannot defeat us!” Amiri said. “Your attacks inspire us to rise again and again.”
The UN Security Council and other world leaders condemned the attack on the Kaaj educational center in Kabul, where Amiri went for two years to prepare for university entrance exams, but no strong security measures have been taken by the political regime in Afghanistan to ensure the safety of the current Shia. more marginalized in the Taliban.
In recognition of her courage and resilience, the BBC placed Amiri on its list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2022.
The attack comes after a ban by the Taliban on girls’ schools beyond the sixth grade in Afghanistan after the group came to power last summer. But young Afghans like Amiri still hope that the international community will put pressure on Taliban leaders to respect girls’ rights to education and women’s rights to work.
“I appeal to the international community to do something for Afghan women and girls,” she said. “Hear their voices and take action. It has been almost two years since the school for girls was closed. There is a possibility that the university will also be closed. Right now, the situation is difficult. Afghan women and girls cannot work.
Amiri’s prediction about restrictions on higher education for girls was confirmed after the Taliban imposed a complete ban on women’s access to universities on December 20. Five days later, the regime also ordered NGOs to stop women from coming to work. Although the ban on women’s access to education and work has drawn strong condemnation from the international community, Taliban leaders say they will not compromise.
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