Taliban makes covering of faces mandatory for women in public, say burqa is best
Zee News
Most women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons, but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.
Kabul: The Taliban on Saturday ruled Afghan women must cover their faces, according to a decree from the group`s supreme leader, an escalation of growing restrictions on women in public that is drawing a backlash from the international community and many Afghans.
A spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice read the decree from the group`s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada at a press conference in Kabul, saying that a woman`s father or closest male relative would be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs if she did not cover her face outside the home.
They added the ideal face covering was the all-encompassing blue burqa, which became a global symbol of the Taliban`s previous hardline regime from 1996 until 2001.
Most women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons, but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.
The group has faced intense pushback, led by Western governments but joined by some religious scholars and Islamic countries for their growing limits on women`s rights.
