By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
May 7, 2022
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have ordered all women to cover their faces, the latest in a series of restrictions that have drawn criticism from many Afghans and the international community.
The decree, announced at a news conference in the capital, Kabul, on May 7, calls for women to only show their eyes and recommends they wear the head-to-toe burqa.
A spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice read out the decree and said it was issued in the name of the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Failure to comply will result in a woman’s father or closest male relative being reprimanded, or imprisoned, or fired from government jobs, the decree said.
“We want our sisters to live with dignity and safety,” Khalid Hanafi, acting minister for the ministry, was quoted as saying.
Head scarves are common for most Afghan women, but in urban areas such as Kabul, many do not cover their faces.
One female activist in Kabul, who is a lawyer and does not want to be identified for security reasons, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that Afghan women used to wear the hijab and were Muslims before the Taliban.
“They (Afghans) used to be Muslims, whether they are Taliban in power or not. Unfortunately, the Taliban are always trying to get concessions from women,” she said. “Sometimes they debate about women’s education and sometimes they talk about hijab for women. But they have forgotten the basic and important problems of hunger, poverty, and many other things in Afghanistan.”
Girls have been banned from school beyond Grade 6 in most of the country since the Taliban’s return last August.
In March, authorities ordered girls high schools closed on the morning they were scheduled to open. But in Kabul, private schools and universities have operated uninterrupted.
The United States and other nations have cut development aid and enforced strict banking sanctions since the Taliban takeover amid the sudden, chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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