By: Rukhshana Media
The Taliban announced it has started a campaign against “women who don’t wear hijab” in Kandahar, encouraging them to observe full hijab when they are in public, Abdul Rahman Tayebi, director of the Taliban’s Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice department in Kandahar, said on Monday, May 23.
Tayebi said the Taliban will recommend women to observe hijab, but if they ignore the recommendations, then their male family members would be introduced to courts.
The Taliban have said earlier that burqa and Arabic full veils, both of which cover from head-to-toe, are their preferred hijab for women.
Kandahar is one of the most conservative provinces in Afghanistan where women wore burqas, long abayas and scarves even before the Taliban came to power in August.
“The new campaign is absurd and a mockery of women,” said Shamsia Azizi, 28, a woman who lives in Kandahar, adding women already wore burqas in the province.
The Taliban issued an executive order recently, which requires women to wear the burqa, Arabic hijab, and face cover when they leave home. Last week, female journalists were ordered to wear face masks or cover their faces by their scarves while presenting programs on TV.
