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

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

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

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

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

“These girls who are not too outdated or younger should cowl their face, except the eyes, as per sharia directives, with a purpose to avoid provocation when meeting men who are usually not mahram (adult shut male kinfolk),” the decree stated.

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

During their first regime between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban imposed similar restrictions on ladies.