Taliban order Afghan women to cover faces again

Record ID: 1671707

  • Title: Taliban order Afghan women to cover faces again
  • Date: 7th May 2022
  • Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (May 7, 2022) (Reuters) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT THE BAZAAR / WOMEN WEARING HIJAB / WOMEN AT THE BAZAAR COVERING THEIR FACES FROM CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) TALIBAN SPOKESMAN, ZABIULLAH MUJAHID, SAYING: “Praise be to God, that 99% of women in Afghanistan observe the hijab, without us telling them, because they are Muslim, and they know that hijab is their honour.” HIJAB SELLER SITTING INSIDE HIS SHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) MINISTER OF PROPAGATION OF VIRTUE AND PREVENTION OF VICE, MOHAMMAD KHALID HANIFI, SAYING: “The Islamic Emirate wants all our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan to have a safe, happy and dignified life.” VARIOUS OF BURQAS HANGING INSIDE A SHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) BURQA SELLER, NAZAR QASEMZADA, SAYING: “We request Taliban to be kind to their nation since Afghan people have suffered a lot in the past forty years, people should not be bothered anymore.” VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AT THE BAZAAR / WOMEN WEARING BURQAS (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) RESIDENT, ABDUL SATTAR, SAYING: “My message to all Afghan women is to observe their hijab based on the rules of Islam, they must do what Islam has allowed them, there is no need for Emirate to advise them.” WOMEN WEARING A BURQA SHOPPING AT THE BAZAAR (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) RESIDENT, SATTAR, SAYING: “Regarding hijab, my opinion is that this is not something new, 1400 years ago, the prophet of Islam said that hijab is obligatory above all Muslim, men and women, and all people should observe hijab.” PEOPLE AT THE BAZAAR
  • Embargoed: 21st May 2022 15:36
  • Keywords: Burqa Hijab Taliban Women
  • Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Crime/Law/Justice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001639507052022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Afghanistan's Taliban government ordered women on Saturday (May 7) to cover their faces in public, a return to a signature policy of their past hardline rule and an escalation of restrictions that are causing anger at home and abroad.
    A decree from the group's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said that if a woman did not cover her face outside home, her father or closest male relative would be visited and face potential prison or firing from state jobs.
    "The Islamic Emirate wants all our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan to have a safe, happy and dignified life,” said Mohammad Khalid Hanifi, the minister for Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice during a news conference in the capital Kabul.
    The ideal face covering was the all-encompassing blue burqa, which was obligatory for women in public during the Taliban's previous 1996-2001 rule, the group said.
    Most women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.
    The Taliban has faced intense criticism from Western governments, but also by some religious scholars and Islamic nations, for limiting women's rights including keeping girls' high schools closed.
    The United States and others have cut development aid and sanctioned the banking system, pushing Afghanistan towards economic ruin.
    The Taliban says it has changed since its last rule, but in recent months has added regulations limiting women's movement without a male chaperone and banning men and women from visiting parks together.
    “We request Taliban to be kind to their nation since Afghan people have suffered a lot in the past forty years, people should not be bothered anymore,” said burqa seller Nazar Qasemzada.
    (Production: Sayed Ramin, Ahmad Masih, Nasaybah Hussain)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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