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A ‘colourful’ protest against Taliban’s hijab diktat

Afghan women protest Taliban's hijab diktat by sharing photos in colourful dresses

Photos have emerged of a group of female students wearing head-to-toe black robes and waving Taliban flags in the lecture hall of a government-run university in Kabul….reports Asian Lite News

Afghan women around the world are protesting the Taliban’s new hijab diktat in schools by posting photos of themselves wearing colorful traditional dresses on social media, CNN reported.

The Taliban have mandated the segregation of genders in classrooms and said that female students, lecturers and employees must wear hijabs in accordance with the group’s interpretation of Sharia law.

Photos have emerged of a group of female students wearing head-to-toe black robes and waving Taliban flags in the lecture hall of a government-run university in Kabul.

Afghan women protest Taliban’s hijab diktat by sharing photos in colourful dresses

Other Afghan women responded by posting pictures of themselves in bright and colorful traditional Afghan dresses — a stark contrast to the black hijab mandate outlined by the Taliban.

Bahar Jalali, a former faculty member of the American University of Afghanistan according to her LinkedIn profile, helped kick off the picture posting campaign, according to other women who shared photos on Twitter., CNN reported.

Jalali tweeted a picture of a woman in a full black dress and veil and said: “No woman has ever dressed like this in the history of Afghanistan. This is utterly foreign and alien to Afghan culture. I posted my pic in the traditional Afghan dress to inform, educate and dispel the misinformation that is being propagated by Taliban.”

Other Afghan women soon followed her lead on social media, the report added.

Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi, head of the Afghan service at DW News, tweeted a picture of herself in traditional Afghan dress and headdress with the comment: “This is Afghan culture and this is how Afghan women dress.”

Shekiba Teimori, an Afghan singer and activist who fled Kabul last month, told CNN that the “hijab existed before Kabul’s fall. We could see Hijabi women, but this was based on family decisions and not the government.”

She said before the Taliban came to Afghanistan, her ancestors were “wearing the same colorful Afghan dresses you see in my pictures”.

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Veiled Afghan Women Stage Pro-Taliban Rally in Kabul

The women were carrying with them Taliban flags while the speakers criticized the west for what they called, an illegal invasion of Afghanistan….reports Hamza Ameer

After the Taliban deployed security in Kabul opted to aerial gunfire, lashes and manhandling of female protesters, who were marching in an anti-Taliban rally in Kabul; veiled women have taken to the streets and staged a rally in support of the Taliban regime.

Around 300 women, wearing black veils marched on the streets of Kabul and later sat at the Kabul university lecture theatre, asserting their support to the Taliban leadership, especially on gender segregation.

The women were carrying with them Taliban flags while the speakers criticized the west for what they called, an illegal invasion of Afghanistan.

In comparison to a women-led anti-Taliban protest rally, where participants and even journalists were blocked, stopped and assaulted by the Taliban security personal; the Taliban heavily guarded this particular pro-Taliban rally.

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, responding to a question about the anti-Taliban protest rally, said that there is no permission for any rally unless it is permitted by the Taliban regime.

This interpreted in one way means that anyone wanting to raise their voice against the Taliban, will not be allowed to voice their concern, while on the other hand, it means that a pro-Taliban event or rally, will be allowed by the Taliban regime, primarily because it would act at a counter-narrative to anti-Taliban sentiments, especially with reference to women’s rights in the country.

The speakers at the Shaheed Rabbani Education University, where the pro-Taliban women gathered, said they were against those women, who are protesting against the Taliban on the streets, insisting that those women are not representatives of women.

“Is it freedom to like the last government? No, it is not freedom. The last government was misusing women. They were recruiting women just by their beauty”, said one of the speakers at the gathering.

“Those not wearing the Hijab are harming all of us”, said Shabana Omari, a student of the university, who criticized women who are not wearing headscarves.

“We are supporting our government with all our strength”, said another speaker Somaiya.

Women’s rights in Afghanistan have become a global debate, especially after the Taliban announced their interim government with zero representation of women and later banned women from playing any sport, as it would reveal their faces and bodies.

The new Taliban government maintains that it would be providing all rights to the women, which are legitimate under the Islamic Shariah law, which includes Hijab or Burka as the dresscode.

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UN official bats for rights of Afghan women

Pramila Patten, officer-in-charge of UN Women stand reaffirmed solidarity with all Afghan women who are fighting for the respect of their fundamental rights and freedoms..reports Asian Lite News

 A UN high-ranking official has called on the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to respect the rights of women.

“Women have a right to peaceful protest and to a life free of violence. In taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban authorities assume a duty to respect and protect these rights,” Xinhua news agency quoted Pramila Patten, officer-in-charge of UN Women, as saying.

“I am shocked and outraged by the images of women in Afghanistan being whipped, hit with shock batons and beaten simply for exercising their right to peaceful protest. I stand in solidarity with all Afghan women who are fighting for the respect of their fundamental rights and freedoms,” said Patten.

“I call again upon the Taliban to adhere to their duty to ensure the full rights of all women and girls in Afghanistan, to ensure the immediate cessation of this wholly unacceptable normalization of violence against them and to monitor and investigate these violations so that perpetrators are held accountable whenever and wherever such violence occurs,” she said.

There can be little credibility for promises made by the Taliban authorities to respect the rights of women and girls while such flagrant violations take place with impunity. There must be urgent action to ensure that women can fully, equally and safely exercise their right to participation in the public and political life of Afghanistan, she added.

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Afghan women stage rally demanding inclusion in govt

The Taliban, who are yet to decide on female leadership roles, have already said that women can work in government institutions but not in higher-ranking positions, reports Asian Lite News

A group of Afghan women staged a rally in Kabul demanding the inclusion of females in the country’s new government headed by the Taliban, according to a media report.

Friday’s rally came a day after a similar one was staged in Herat amid the Taliban trying to form a new government following their complete takeover of the country last month, said the TOLO News report.

The Taliban, who are yet to decide on female leadership roles, have already said that women can work in government institutions but not in higher-ranking positions.

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During the rally in Kabul, the participants demanded the Taliban and the international community to preserve women’s achievements in Afghanistan in the last two decades and respect their political, social, and economic rights.

“No society will make progress without women’s active role. Therefore, women’s political participation in the future government and its cabinet should be considered,” TOLO News quoted civil society activist Tarannom Saeedi as saying.

Another activist, Razia said that “we want to work like men under the Islamic law”.

The participants urged women across the country to go back to work despite the Taliban coming back to power.

After the fall of Kabul on August 15, the Taliban turned away several female presenters working at RTA (the national radio and television facilitates in Afghanistan) and did not let them continue working at the station.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has also said that women can work under Islamic principles, without providing further details.

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