Watch Hundreds of Veil-Covered Women Attend Lecture at Kabul University

Afghan students showed up to support the Taliban*, as the movement has come under heavy criticism from Western governments and media over allegations of suppression of women following the Islamists' takeover of the country.

Some 300 women attended a lecture at the Shaheed Rabbani Education University in Kabul on Saturday, with many wearing full-face veils and gloves, in accordance with a new religious-based education dress code introduced by the Taliban.

The women were waving white Taliban flags in support of the movement.

Most preferred niqabs, which cover the full body except for the eyes, although several women were seen in traditional dark blue burkas, which also cover the full body but leave a mesh screen over the eyes.

Speaker during pro Taliban conference at Kabul University claims women's rights activists who have been extensively covered in Western media do not represent #Afghan women and they are pursuing their own personal interests. pic.twitter.com/bKyjOxOqNl

— Sangar | سنګر پیکار (@paykhar) September 11, 2021

The lecture took place ahead of a pro-Taliban rally.

This comes as the new de-facto government in Afghanistan has come under fire on all fronts over women's rights in the country, following reports that Afghan women are prohibited from going to their workplace and were being beaten in the streets.

Under Taliban rule, women are reportedly not deprived of education, but they are required to dress in accordance with Sharia law and classes must be divided by gender (or at least, divided by a curtain).

As the movement unveiled its caretaker cabinet, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said that Shariah law will now be in force in Afghanistan, and Islamists will protect citizens' rights "within the framework of Islam." However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told media that they will find a place for women in politics in the future.

Social media reports have also indicated that the United States has most likely used women's rights issues to serve its own interests, pointing to Washington's hypocrisy when it comes to human rights, as 20 years of US war in Afghanistan resulted in numerous deaths, including among women and children.

Using women's rights again as a means of framing US imperialism. Perhaps things were better for many Afghan women under a US-supported government, but it is also the US's violent intervention, which has led to the situation in Afghanistan today. One cannot disconnect the two. https://t.co/RYNX9COIvL

— Nida Kirmani (@NidaKirmani) September 11, 2021

This is the perfect example of what I noted last week.

Media will argue “women’s right” to defend staying In Afghanistan.

But then give us ‘both sides” on Texas Bounty Hunter and Uterus Takeover Act.

— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) September 11, 2021

Its crazy to see the amount of westerners who suddenly care about women’s rights in Afghanistan while they didn’t care about the decades of bombings, murder, drone strikes, and rape which occurred at the hands of the US military.

— Glo🍥 (@ASAPglow) September 11, 2021

The principle reason its impossible to take the US's alleged concern for women's rights in Afghanistan seriously is that over the 20 year occupation US & NATO airstrikes have killed more than 70,000 civilians, about half of them women and girls.

— Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch (@JeffreyStClair3) September 5, 2021

US and allied armies are accused of raping an estimated half a million women in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya combined in the last twenty years.Western countries have no moral ground or business to tell Talibans or the Muslim world about women rights in Afghanistan. ⁦@bonglez⁩

— Duke Salman Khan (@KhanSalkhan1) September 10, 2021

The Taliban sweepingly seized Kabul as President Ashraf Ghani fled his country with pockets reportedly filled with cash, according to media reports. Ghani, however, denied taking anything apart from his turban, his shoes and a book, and promised to return to the country (he did not say when).

Despite media speculation and vague statements that the Taliban rule is now a reality in Afghanistan, no state has so far formally recognized their government.

* A terrorist organization banned in Russia