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coup and aimed to change the opportunities increased and the number
country’s political and social structures of female teachers in Kābul tripled
through a reform program. The between 1980 and 1986. In Mazar-i-
communist government sought Sharīf in 1990, 43 out of 46 high schools
revolutionary social change, modern employed female teachers (Ibid., p. 36).
state-building, and the restoration of However, this progress was limited in
women’s rights (Moghadam, 2002). rural areas, where local mullahs aligned
Their reforms mirrored those of King with the Mujāhideen often restricted
Amānullāh, particularly in establishing women’s participation in development
compulsory education for all citizens. programs (Ibid., pp. 36-37).
However, opposition to traditional 4.4. Women in Mujāhideen and
symbols such as religion and internal Ṭāliban Government (In the
party purges quickly undermined their First Round)
authority (Giustozzi, 2000, pp. 16–17). The truth is that the political and social
The regime’s main slogan was conditions that emerged in Afghanistan
women’s freedom, education, and in the 1970s, due to severe
work. Shortly after the Saur coup, the backwardness in all dimensions,
Revolutionary Council announced caused Afghanistan to develop in a
policies that emphasized equal rights caricatured and unbalanced way in the
for men and women in various fields. field of education and training in the
A new Ministry of Social Affairs was cities, while the main base of the
established under the leadership of country was still traditional and
Anahita Ratebzad, later renamed the backward. This led to the penetration
‘People’s Organization of Afghan of educated youth by imported Marxist
Women’ (Kāḍim, 2005, p. 346). teachings and political Islamism.
The party introduced land reform, Which prepared the ground for
abolished the bride price i.e., Shīr bahā, subsequent events in Afghanistan.
and set the minimum age of marriage at In general, the formation of such a
16 for girls and 18 for boys (Kāḍim, situation can be summarized in the
2005, p. 353; Ahmed-Ghosh, 2003, p. 6). political, economic, and cultural axes.
It is worth noting that significant In the political dimension, it should be
progress has been made in women’s noted that the ineffective policies of the
education and employment, especially royal regime and their oppression and
in urban areas such as Kābul. Women tyranny, which were accompanied by
began to work in various sectors such extreme ethnicism and exploitation of
as the police, factories, and hospitals disadvantaged groups, led to public
(Giustozzi, 2000, p. 35). Educational dissatisfaction. Another reason was the
