Published on, Aug. 27 -- August 27, 2025 6:46 AM

On a sullen morning in Kabul, a 13-year-old Mariam pressed her schoolbooks to her chest and walked toward the gate of her old classroom. She had been a bright student, one of the best in mathematics, with her dream to become an engineer one day. But the guard at the gate shook his head. "Girls after grade six are no longer allowed," he said flatly. Mariam's face burned with confusion and shame as she turned away. Behind her, a line of boys filed into the building, their laughter ringing in the air. Mariam walked back home in silence, her books suddenly feeling heavier than stone.

This single moment, repeated in thousands of Afghan households, tells the story of a country being strangled b...