'We have failed them', echoed voices on Twitter after the Taliban's new orders on women's clothing were announced. Taliban-led government in Afghanistan stated that women must “wear head-to-toe clothing” for face coverings or hijab when stepping out in public. The statement further said that if there is no important work outside, women "better stay at home". The new order will reportedly be implemented in two steps -- encouragement and punishment.
After the announcement, Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad shared an old video of hers where she is seen talking about the Hijab and Iran's rules associated with it. Calling women from all over the world she asked them to speak on the matter and raise their concerns. “I am a woman from the Middle East and I am scared of Islamic laws,” she says in the video, adding, “In Iran, I was told if I take off my hijab, I will be hanged with my hair by god. I will get kicked out of school, I will get lashes, I will get jailed, and I will get fined. I will even get beaten up on the streets by the morality police. If I get raped, it's my fault. If I take off my hijab, I won't be able to exist as a woman in my homeland...my fear and the fear of millions of other women who lived under Sharia Law in the Middle East is rational. So, Let Us Talk.”
The new order is getting much flack on social media. According to netizens, this new rule is an aggravation of escalating restrictions on women in public. It has sparked outrage on the Internet. Sample some of these tweets:
For the unversed, in a statement, the Taliban's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said that if a woman did not cover her face outside the home, her father or closest male relative would be summoned and eventually incarcerated or fired from government jobs, reports Khaama Press. The mandate is adopted "in order to avoid provocation when meeting men who are not Mahram", according to the Ministry.
Mahram is a person who is allowed by Islam to stay with women without any need for coverings of the veil.
Under the first step, authorities will "locate the residences of unveiled ladies and to counsel and warn the women's parents".
"The woman's father or guardian is summoned to the relevant department in the second stage, and in the following steps, a case is lodged against the woman's father or parents, and the person's trial begins," the Ministry statement said
--with agency inputs
