The leadership of the Afghan Taliban has ordered all Afghan women to wear a burqa in public places, the Associated Press reported, citing the Ministry of Dissemination of Virtues and Eradication of Vices.
“We want our sisters to live with dignity and safety,” said Khalid Hanafi, Acting the line minister in the Taliban government.
The obligatory wearing of the burqa was also announced at the disposal of the Taliban’s supreme leader Haybatullah Ahunzada, presented to the media, AFP reported. It says that “women who are not very young and not very old” should cover their faces in front of all men who are not members of the family. “Therefore, the recommendations are to wear a burqa, a garment covering women from head to toe with only an eye opening.
Such restrictions on the way women should dress existed during the previous hardline Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001.
After coming to power again last year, the Taliban decided not to open schools for girls over 6th grade. They backed away from their promise not to hinder the girls from studying and decided to meet the demands of the hard core among their supporters at the expense of their even greater isolation from the international community. The decision thwarted the Taliban’s attempts to have its rule recognized by international financial donors at a time when Afghanistan is in a growing humanitarian crisis. The international community has called on the Taliban leadership to reopen schools.
