Taliban chief orders girls to wear all-covering burqa in public: Decree

A woman sits with ladies sporting burqas outside a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan October 5, 2021. (File picture: Reuters)

Printed: 07 Could ,2022: 11:58 AM GST Updated: 07 Could ,2022: 12:53 PM GST

Afghanistan’s supreme leader and Taliban chief on Saturday ordered the country’s ladies to put on the all-covering burqa in public - one of many harshest controls imposed on women’s lives because the Taliban seized power.

“They need to put on a chadori (head-to-toe burqa) as it is traditional and respectful,” said a decree issued by Hibatullah Akhundzada that was launched by Taliban authorities at a function in Kabul.

“Those women who usually are not too old or young must cover their face, except the eyes, as per sharia directives, with a purpose to keep away from provocation when meeting males who are not mahram (grownup close male relatives),” the decree mentioned.

It added that if ladies had no necessary work outside it was “better they stay at house.”

Throughout their first regime between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban imposed similar restrictions on women.