LONDON: Pakistan Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on Monday reacted to the Afghan Taliban government’s order of forcing women to cover their faces in public, saying that the Taliban want to erase girls and women from all public life in Afghanistan.
Malala, who is also an education activist, took to Twitter and said that the Taliban wanted to keep girls out of school and women out of work, deny them the ability to travel without a male family member, and force them to cover their faces and bodies completely.
“We must not lose our sense of alarm for Afghan women as the Taliban continue to break their promises. Even now, women are taking to the streets to fight for their human rights and dignity — all of us, and especially those from Muslim countries, must stand with them,” she said.
She asked leaders around the world to take collective action to hold the Taliban accountable for violating the human rights of millions of women and girls.
It may be recalled that a decree from the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said that if a woman did not cover her face outside the home her father or closest male relative would be visited and face potential prison or firing from state jobs.
The group has said the ideal face covering was the all-encompassing blue burqa — in reference to the garment that was obligatory for women in public during the Taliban’s previous 1996-2001 rule.
Most women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.
The Taliban has faced intense criticism from Western governments, but also by some religious scholars and Islamic nations, for limiting women’s rights including keeping girls’ high schools closed.
The United Nations’ mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement on Saturday that it would immediately seek meetings with the Taliban over the issue, adding it would consult with others in the international community on the implications of the ruling.
