Women presenters on Afghanistan’s leading TV channels went on air Saturday without covering their faces, defying a Taliban order that they conceal their appearance to comply with the group’s austere brand of Islam.<\/p>\n

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Since surging back to power last year the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on civil society, many focused on reining in the rights of women and girls.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month Afghanistan’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a diktat for women to cover up fully in public, including their faces, ideally with the traditional burqa.<\/p>\n

The feared Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ordered women TV presenters to follow suit by Saturday.<\/p>\n

Previously they had only been required to wear a headscarf.<\/p>\n

But broadcasters TOLOnews, Shamshad TV and 1TV all aired live programmes Saturday with women presenters’ faces visible.<\/p>\n

“Our female colleagues are concerned that if they cover their faces, the next thing they will be told is to stop working,” said Shamshad TV head of news Abid Ehsas.<\/p>\n

“This is the reason they have not observed the order so far,” he told AFP, adding the channel had requested further discussions with the Taliban on the issue.<\/p>\n

Taliban orders such as this have caused many female journalists to leave Afghanistan since the hardline Islamists stormed back to power, a woman presenter said.<\/p>\n

“Their latest order has broken the hearts of women presenters and many now think they have no future in this country,” she said, requesting not to be named.<\/p>\n

“I’m thinking of leaving the country. Decrees like this will force many professionals to leave.”<\/p>\n

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– ‘Implement the order’ –<\/h2>\n

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Mohammad Sadeq Akif Mohajir, spokesman for the vice ministry, said the women presenters were violating the Taliban directive.<\/p>\n

“If they don’t comply we will talk to the managers and guardians of the presenters,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n

“Anyone who lives under a particular system and government has to obey the laws and orders of that system, so they must implement the order,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Taliban have demanded that women government employees be fired if they fail to follow the new dress code.<\/p>\n

Men working in government also risk suspension if their wives or daughters fail to comply.<\/p>\n

Mohajir said media managers and the male guardians of defiant women presenters would also be liable for penalties if the order was not observed.<\/p>\n

During two decades of US-led military intervention in Afghanistan, women and girls made marginal gains in the deeply patriarchal nation.<\/p>\n

Soon after they took over, the Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh Islamist rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.<\/p>\n

Since the takeover, however, women have been banned from travelling alone and teenage girls barred from secondary schools.<\/p>\n

In the 20 years after the Taliban were ousted from office in 2001, many women in the conservative countryside continued to wear a burqa.<\/p>\n

But most Afghan women, including TV presenters, opted for the Islamic headscarf.<\/p>\n

Television channels have already stopped showing dramas and soap operas featuring women, following orders from Taliban authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women presenters on Afghanistan’s leading TV channels went on air Saturday without covering their faces, defying a Taliban order that they conceal their appearance to comply with the group’s austere brand of Islam. Since surging back to power last year the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on civil society, many focused on reining in the rights of women and girls. Earlier this month Afghanistan’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a diktat for women to cover up fully in public, including their faces, ideally with the traditional burqa. The feared Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[544,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-yeswecantv-news"],"yoast_head":"\n