Kabul: Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear the head-to-toe burqa in public, a sharp hard-line stance that confirms the worst fears of rights activists and is bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community.
Many women in Afghanistan already wear the burqa but some -- particularly in urban pockets -- just wear a simple covering over their hair.
Taliban officials described the decree as "advice" but laid out a specific set of escalating steps for anyone not complying, reports the BBC. In the first instance their home would be visited and their husband, brother or father would be talked to; in the second, their male guardian would be summoned to the ministry; and, in the third, the male guardian would be taken to court and could be jailed for three days, the BBC added, giving details of the diktat.
The decree added if women had no important work outside it is better for them to stay at home. “Islamic principles and Islamic ideology are more important to us than anything else,” said Khalid Hanafi, acting minister for the Taliban's vice and virtue ministry.
The decree is a throwback to similar restrictions on women during the Taliban's previous hard-line rule between 1996 and 2001.
“We want our sisters to live with dignity and safety,” explained Hanafi.
The Taliban previously decided against reopening schools to girls above grade 6, reneging on an earlier promise and opting to appease their hard-line base at the expense of further alienating the international community.
That decision disrupted efforts by the Taliban to win recognition from potential international donors at a time when the country is mired in a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The Quran, Islam's holy book, tells Muslims - men and women - to dress modestly, reports BBC. Male modesty has been interpreted to be covering the area from the navel to the knee. For women it is generally seen as covering everything except their face, hands and feet when in the presence of men they are not related or married to.
