Taliban order Afghan women to wear all-covering burqa
The Taliban on Saturday imposed one of the harshest restrictions on Afghanistan’s women since seizing power, ordering them to wear the all-covering burqa in public.
The militants took back control of the country in August last year, promising a softer rule than their last stint in power between 1996 and 2001, which was dominated by human rights abuses.
But they have already imposed a slew of restrictions on women – banning them from many government jobs, secondary education, and from travelling alone outside their cities or Afghanistan.
On Saturday, Afghanistan’s supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada announced a strict dress code for women when they are in public.
“They should wear a chadori (head-to-toe burqa) as it is traditional and respectful,” said a decree in his name released by Taliban authorities at a ceremony in Kabul.
“Those women who are not too old or young must cover their face, except the eyes, as per sharia directives, in order to avoid provocation when meeting men who are not mahram (adult close male relatives),” it said.
The order was expected to spark a flurry of condemnation abroad. Many in the international community want humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and recognition of the Taliban government to be linked to the restoration of women’s rights.
Akhundzada’s decree also said that if women had no important work outside it was “better they stay at home”.
During their first regime, the Taliban had made the burqa compulsory for women.
Since their return to power, their feared Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has issued several “guidelines” on what women should wear but Saturday’s edict was the first such national order.
The hardline Islamists triggered an international outrage in March when they ordered secondary schools for girls to shut, just hours after reopening for the first time since they seized power.
Officials have never justified the ban, apart from saying the education of girls must be according to “Islamic principles”.
That ban was also issued by Akhundzada, according to several Taliban officials.
Women have also been ordered to visit parks in the capital on separate days from men.
Some Afghan women initially pushed back strongly, holding small demonstrations and protests where they demanded the right to education and work.
But the Taliban cracked down on these unsanctioned rallies and rounded up several of the ringleaders, holding them incommunicado while denying they had been detained.
In the 20 years between the Taliban’s two reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though the country remained socially conservative.
In a deeply conservative and patriarchal Afghanistan, many women already wear the burqa in rural areas. (AFP)
16912 715322Most what i read online is trash and copy paste but i think you offer something different. Keep it like this. 718468
whoah this blog is wonderful i really like studying your posts.
Keep up the great work! You realize, lots of persons
are looking round for this information, you can aid them greatly.
My spouse and I stumbled over here different website and thought I may as
well check things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you.
Look forward to going over your web page repeatedly.
Very good information. Lucky me I came across your website
by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve book-marked it for later!
Great delivery. Outstanding arguments. Keep up the great work.
These are genuinely impressive ideas in regarding blogging.
You have touched some pleasant things here. Any way keep up wrinting.
That is really attention-grabbing, You’re a very skilled blogger.
I’ve joined your rss feed and look forward to in the hunt for extra of your great post.
Also, I have shared your site in my social networks
Thanks in favor of sharing such a nice opinion, paragraph is nice, thats why i have read it completely
I do not know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everyone
else encountering issues with your website.
It appears as if some of the text within your posts are running off
the screen. Can somebody else please provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to them too?
This may be a issue with my web browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
Thank you
Quality articles is the main to attract the visitors to pay a
visit the website, that’s what this web site is providing.
hi!,I love your writing very so much! proportion we keep in touch more about your article on AOL?
I need a specialist on this area to resolve my problem.
Maybe that is you! Having a look ahead to peer you.
Normally I don’t learn article on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very forced me to
try and do so! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you, very nice article.
Hi my loved one! I want to say that this post is amazing, great written and come with approximately
all vital infos. I’d like to see extra posts like this
.
It’s really very difficult in this full of activity life to listen news on Television, so I only use the web for
that purpose, and get the newest information.