'I hide to cry': Torment of Afghan fathers as daughters deprived of education

Father after father AFP spoke to in Afghanistan about the education ban that stops their daughters from going beyond primary school choked up in despair. The pain and anguish it is causing behind closed doors is clear from interviews AFP conducted across the country, with even deeply religious fathers questioning the ruling. The Taliban authorities justify the ban — the only one of its kind in the world — on their interpretation of Islamic law. But “you will never find in the Quran that education is only for men”, said one devout father, while another — who praised the Taliban government for restoring security and reducing corruption — said he couldn’t “find any proper justification for…