Shabana's columns in The Washington Post.
In September 2021, The Washington Post named Shabana a contributing columnist to the Global Opinions page. As new columns are published, we’ll link them below.
2023
August 15: “The Taliban is snuffing out hope in Afghanistan. It will fail.”
March 23: “In Afghanistan, women and girls are being erased.”
2022
December 21: “The Taliban strikes another blow to Afghan women.”
October 24: “Afghan girls’ will to learn is powerful. Even a bomb won’t crush it.”
August 15: “A year after Kabul fell to the Taliban, Afghan girls stay unsinkable.”
July 30: “Ignoring Afghan women and girls is to do the Taliban’s work for them.”
May 14: “In the Taliban’s Afghanistan, control of women begins at home.”
March 28: “Afghan girls vanished from class and the world looked away. This cannot happen again.”
February 15: “Afghan schools might reopen soon, but girls won’t have the resources to thrive.”
January 25: “I want to educate Afghan freedom fighters, but not with rifles. Will the world support us?”
2021
December 14: “When everyone urgently wanted to talk to me, Fred Hiatt just wanted to listen.”
November 24: “Many Afghan refugees are finding home again. That’s reason to give thanks.”
October 20: “Afghanistan needs aid, but that won’t fix our broken nation. Uplifting girls will.”
September 28: “I am an educator of Afghan girls. My life’s work is the Taliban’s greatest need.”
September 16: “My father refused to be a refugee. I turned him into one. I’m remembering his garden.”
September 1: “I founded a boarding school for girls in Afghanistan. Don’t look away from us.”
The Post named this September 1 column as one of their favorites in 2021.