(Kabul) Women presenters on major Afghan TV channels aired on Saturday without covering their faces, defying the Taliban’s order to hide their appearance and thus subjecting the group’s tough stance on Islam.
Posted at 8:15 p.m.
Updated at 3:51 pm.
Since returning to power last year, the Taliban have imposed a number of artificial sanctions on civil society, many of which are aimed at restricting women’s rights.
Earlier this month, the Taliban’s top leader issued an order for women to cover themselves completely with the traditional burqa, including their face.
Previously, only the scarf that covered the hair was suitable.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Violent Promotion and Vice Prevention has ordered women TV presenters to comply by Saturday.
But women journalists from TOLOnews, Shamshad TV and 1 TV did not hide their faces and went live and live.
“If our sisters cover their faces, they are afraid that the next thing they will say is stop working,” said Shamshad TV News Chief Abid Ehsas.
“That is why they have not honored the order so far,” he told AFP.
Ministry of Virtue Promotion and Vice Prevention spokesman Mohammad Sadek Akif Mohajir warned that women were violating Taliban directives.
“If they do not comply, we will talk to the authorities,” he told AFP.
“Anyone who lives under a particular system and government must abide by the laws and regulations of that system, so they must enforce the order,” he said.
The Taliban have ordered that women working in government be fired if they fail to comply with the new dress code.
Employees run the risk of being suspended if their wives or daughters do not comply.
The United States demands that women’s rights be respected
The United States Special Envoy for Afghanistan met with the Taliban-appointed government ambassador in Doha, Qatar on Saturday to recall the international community’s opposition to the serious sanctions imposed on women.
“Girls must go to school, women must have the right to move freely and work without restrictions to move forward towards normalization of relations,” Thomas West, the US special envoy for Afghanistan, wrote on Twitter after his meeting with the unrecognized Taliban government. Taliban diplomat Amir Khan Muttaki.
According to Mr West, the two officials also discussed the stabilization of the Afghan economy and the risk of attacks.
“The dialogue continues in support of the Afghan people and our national interests,” he added.
When they came to power in August after the withdrawal of American forces, the Taliban promised a more comfortable regime than their first austerity regime between 1996 and 2001.
But in recent months they have begun to suppress opposition and have imposed tougher sanctions on women in particular.
In early May, the Taliban’s top leader ordered women to cover themselves completely in public, especially with the traditional burqa covering their face. Previously, only the scarf that covered the hair was suitable.
In late March, the Taliban closed high schools and colleges to girls, just hours after they reopened, which was long overdue.
Since the Taliban came to power, Afghanistan has had its economy collapse and unemployment rise, especially abroad, especially due to the enormous monetary crisis caused by the freezing of billions of assets in the USA.
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