The radical and conservative elements in Afghan society have always been against modern education. They have always taken acute steps to stop its growth in this society. And when the matter is related to the education of the girls or women, the situation becomes more intolerable for them. They do not consider women capable enough to come out of their houses and get education or participate in social and political lives.

In fact, they consider it a step against their so-called "honor". Unfortunately, in the last few decades the number of such elements has kept on rising. Though there were some expectations from the society that had developed after the fall of Taliban, it has not been able to come up to the expectations, and there are clear indications that the society may get deteriorated further as far as the female education or female participation in social and political lives are concerned.

One of the greatest characteristics of a tribal and an extremist religious society is that it tends to keep intact the status quo. It does not want that the society should evolve and the developments should be made. The evolution of the society will ultimately bring about changes within the society that may disturb the social hierarchy and may compel many people who suffer under the obsolete rules, regulations, norms and values. Modern education plays a key role in facilitating the evolution of society. It may make the subjects question the obsoleteness of the norms, values and ideas.

It may even challenge the rule of the tribal leaders and the extremist Mullahs – who with the support of the so-called "unchangeable social status" and "undeniable religious teachings" are able to extend their rule over the poor masses. They are the ones who would be largely influenced by the spread of education. Therefore, they carry out every step to ensure that the education does not reach to their societies and they are able to rule the people in accordance to the self-centered objectives; mostly violating and discriminating others.

Though the discriminatory role of an extremist religious and tribal society affects everyone, the weaker strata of society have to face the most of it. Women in such societies, which are mostly patriarchal in nature, happen to be one of the weakest strata. Their lives and destinies are decided by the male members of the society. No major decision, relevant to their lives, is taken by themselves. Unfortunately, Afghanistan is one of the same kinds of society. Though there have been improvements in some of the major cities, most of the areas still have the same setup.

Women are considered as a commodity. They are mercilessly killed, burnt, sexually abused, married before they are mature, married without their consent, abused as prostitutes, sold and bought, sacrificed at the altar of religious dogmas, and kept away from education. The destiny-makers of this society know that if they are given modern education, they may question the things being done to them.

They may question the discriminatory rules and regulations. They may challenge the religious dogmas and ultimately challenge the Mullahs and the illiterate tribal leaders. They may change the things and that is what the makers of the society do not want them to do. They want them to be docile and obedient, as in such condition they would be easier to tackle and ruled over.

With some developments achieved in some of the areas of the country, regarding the female education, such Mullahs and tribal leaders are not very happy. They cannot tolerate it, and have decided to take serious action against all such efforts.

Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear the news that girls' schools are closed forcefully, the school going girls are attacked by acid and on many occasions, they are poisoned in their schools in different ways. The recent pieces of news in this regard are worth consideration. On Sunday, May 27, 2012, about 43 school girls of Bibi Hajira High School were poisoned in Taloqan city of northern Takhar Province.

Zakia, a 9th grade student of the school, said, "When I entered the school, I smelt an odor. After smelling, I fell unconscious on the ground," which shows that the girls were poisoned through any gas in the school. It is important to note that this incident was the third of its kind in the province, in the past two months. Four days before this incident, 120 schoolgirls and three teachers of the same school were poisoned.

On May 9, around 100 schoolgirls and eight teachers were poisoned in a school through the water source in Balkh province. In yet another incident in Takhar province, in the mid April, about 150 schoolgirls were hospitalized after they fell ill by drinking contaminated water in their school.

However, it is fortunate to note that the casualties in these incidents have been very much rare. Nevertheless, it is not to suggest that these incidents are not serious and pose no real threat to Afghan girls and their sacred intention to get modern education.

Apart from these incidents, recently there have been some other incidents as well that have revealed the vicious intentions of the obsolete Mullahs. The major of them has taken place in Ghazni province, where many schools, mostly the girls' schools have been shut down because of the threats from Taliban.

After there has been a ban announced by the government on using the motorbikes, Taliban have threatened that in response to this action they would not allow any school to run in the area. This has influenced the schools and the study of the children, especially of the girls. This is really pathetic!

They consider that by closing the schools they may harm the government, but they do not realize that, in fact, they are harming the whole society, including themselves. Or, they may realize it; and they are doing it intentionally as they do not want that there should be any development.

Modern education is necessary for Afghan society if it has to change in true sense. Same is the case with the condition and position of women; they can only change when they are given modern education. Afghan government and the Western allies have to keep this thing in mind that they have to neutralize all the efforts that are exerted to nullify the gains regarding modern education, especially of the girls. Providing a sustainable and modern education system to the children of Afghanistan will be the greatest of the services to Afghanistan.