Afghan clerics (Ulema), school teachers and women’s activists have called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to reopen schools for all girls as soon as possible.

The clerics, teachers and activists noted in a resolution Thursday at a gathering in Kabul that the closure of girls schools was neither logical nor was it in keeping with Sharia.

The participants also called on the international community, especially on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to help Afghanistan regarding girls’ education.

“Whatever the reason for the ban on women’s work and education, it will have irreparable consequences,” said Toorpakai, a university professor.

“If a society needs politics, modesty, trustworthiness, science, and finally management, it cannot be done by men alone,” said Shams Rahman Farotan, a cleric.

Afghan clerics in Pakistan also called for the reopening of girls’ schools in Afghanistan.

One Pakistan-based cleric said that education is a basic right for women and girls.

“The way to invite us is correct, but it is not logical to close doors of schools under the [Islamic] environment pretext,” said Samya Shafiq, a cleric.

He also called on the Islamic Emirate (IE)

 to give people the right to choose their political destiny.

The participants at the gathering in Kabul also expressed their readiness to cooperate with the IEA government in the field of religious interaction with women.

“When you want to give them a seat, they have no education, they have no experience, and they do not know much about the geography of the people… it is cruel,” said Ziaulhaq Baligh, another cleric.

This comes after the IEA closed schools for girls above the sixth grade – a move that sparked an international outcry.