Ethics and Politics student Aisha Khurram interviewed in Tagesspiegel on resistance in Afghanistan

Aisha Khurram, an Afghan student who started studying Ethics and Politics at Brad College Berlin in January, was interviewed for an article of the Berlin daily newspaper, the Tagesspiegel on her grass-roots activities with Afghan women.

Aisha was studying law and politics at the American University of Afghanistan, when the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021. A successful and civically engaged student at her university, Aisha was part of the "Youth Thinker Society" and initiated international conferences and mediations with liberal and conservative forces in the country. In November 2019, she participated in the Model United Nations and won a national UN competition in Afghanistan that lead her to speak before the UN in New York.

With the takeover of the Taliban in 2021 it became apparent that she was no longer safe in Afghanistan and she managed to escape the country via Iran. She is now enrolled full-time at Bard College Berlin with a fellowship from the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.

The article discuses how Aisha and other women are involved in grass-roots initiatives in Afghanistan. With international eyes focused on the war in Ukraine right now, the Taliban have seized the opportunity to increase pressure on the civil society in Afghanistan, making life especially hard for women. Aisha and other women continue to forge ties to young girls and teenagers who are still in Afghanistan and to those who escaped - helping each other distribute information and building networks. Her very big goal, Aisha says, is that at one day “this turns into a revolution”.

Read the full article from the Tagesspiegel (in German) here >>
Read more about the Program on International Education and Social Change at Bard College Berlin.


Photo: Tagesspiegel

Post Date: 04-11-2022