Speech given by the Rector Anne-Sophie NYSSEN

Transcription of the speech given by the Rector Anne-Sophie NYSSEN at the award of the degree of Honorary Doctor of the ULiège to Mahbouba SERAJ :

Dear Ms Seraj

Dear Colleagues

Dear Students

To all of you, with due respect to your titles and positions,

Last August, I came across an interview that deeply moved me; it was Mahbouba Seraj’s interview. I had heard of her name and her fight, but I had not realized just how dramatic, absurd, and utterly shocking the situation for girls and women in Afghanistan was. No education, no job, no freedom. Locked up at home. No right, no voice, no face… Ghosts. 

I finished reading with a knot in my stomach, a kind of guts fury, wondering what I could do concretely.

Since that interview, not only has the situation worsened for women in Afghanistan, but it has deteriorated worldwide. Our world is getting worse and worse :

Selfishness, greed, brute force, virilism, war violence, war crimes, cynicism, racism, supremacism, obscurantism, hyper nationalism, oligarchy, autocracy, and even dictatorship have once again become the core references of both national and international politics, including, - and especially - those of the great powers.
Our European values of freedom, education, inclusiveness, integrity, ethics, and democracy are under violent internal and external attack, and we, as European academics, are questioning how and even whether we can resist.

In this context, the situation of Afghan women might seem like a secondary battle. Yet I do not believe that battle to be secondary at all. In this field, there is no secondary battle, because we cannot afford a lost cause. We must support resistance, give it a voice, illuminate the fight of courageous people, such as Mahbouba Seraj.

This is what universities can do. It is both little and much. Mahbouba Seraj understood this well when she accepted our invitation to receive the title of doctor honoris causa. We offer her a platform and, through her face and voice, we help give a face and a voice to these millions of Afghan women trapped by a delusional political and religious regime.

Mahbouba Seraj’s voice is not that of a scientist. It is that of a resistance fighter. And it fits beautifully into the theme of our academic year, which is focused on “Sciences, Freedoms, and Democracies.” It is the voice of an immense courage, a voice that ‘encourages’ us, I mean : “that gives us the courage”. And let’s not be mistaken : we are also going to need courage. We are not ‘forever citizens’ of a “free” world. We hear our own Talibans rising…

You know the song...

“Ami, entends-tu le vol noir des corbeaux sur nos plaines? »
“Friend, do you hear the black flight of the crows over the plains?”

Sorry to be a bit grim, but the game is getting serious…

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I would like to thank my colleagues, the professors from the faculties of law, political science, philosophy, literature, and social sciences, who have helped prepare the visit of Mrs. Seraj, as well as the two other guests we are welcoming this evening.

Beyond this public evening, two events are scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, which will allow several of our students, researchers, and professors to deepen the discussions.

It is time to honor Mrs. Mahbouba Seraj, and before officially presenting her with the honorary doctorate from the University of Liège, I invite Professor Elsa Mescoli to introduce our distinguished guest.