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

A woman sits with girls wearing burqas outdoors a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan October 5, 2021. (File photograph: Reuters)

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

Afghanistan’s supreme chief and Taliban chief on Saturday ordered the country’s girls to put on the all-covering burqa in public - one of the 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 conventional and respectful,” said a decree issued by Hibatullah Akhundzada that was released by Taliban authorities at a function in Kabul.

“These ladies who usually are not too outdated or younger should cover their face, except the eyes, as per sharia directives, as a way to keep away from provocation when meeting men who will not be mahram (adult shut male kin),” the decree stated.

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

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