Taliban leader orders women to put on all-covering burqa in public: Decree

A lady sits with girls carrying burqas exterior a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan October 5, 2021. (File photograph: Reuters)

Printed: 07 May ,2022: 11:58 AM GST Up to date: 07 Could ,2022: 12:53 PM GST

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

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

“These girls who aren't too old or younger should cover their face, except the eyes, as per sharia directives, with the intention to keep away from provocation when meeting males who will not be mahram (adult shut male kin),” the decree stated.

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

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