Afghanistan: 'Hijab not a choice’ say women during march in support of Taliban

By Team Newsable | First Published Sep 12, 2021, 9:55 AM IST

Nearly 300 women marched in a rally in Kabul to lend their support to the new and 'improved' regime of Taliban, also dubbed as Taliban 2.0.

Hundreds of women, mainly students were seen covered from head to toe filled the auditorium of a Kabul university on Saturday holding signs — many of them in English — in support of the Taliban.

About 300 women in accordance with strict new dress policies for education — waved Taliban flags as speakers railed against the West and expressed support for the Islamists’ policies.

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Armed Taliban fighters escorted the women holding printed banners and claimed to be willingly marching in the pro-Taliban demonstration.

The Taliban said the demonstration at Shaheed Rabbani Education University, which followed anti-Taliban protests last week by Afghan women demanding equal rights, was organized by female university lecturers and students.

The demonstration, held on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks came after several protests in Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan earlier in the week called for women’s participation in the government and called for their right to education and jobs.

Taliban fighters have tried to scuttle such demonstrations, often led by women, by firing into the air to disperse protesters and effectively banned such shows of defiance.

Large Taliban flags flanked the podium, as the female speakers criticised women who have protested across Afghanistan in recent days, according to an AFP report.

Also read: Taliban 2.0 perception on women: 'They cannot be ministers, should give birth'

They also defended the new government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which has banned demonstrations unless permission is granted by the justice ministry, the report said.

Daud Haqqani, director of foreign relations at the education ministry, said the protest was organised by the women, who had asked and been granted permission to demonstrate.

Women against women

Veiled women held placards and banners dissing other Afghan women who fled the country since Taliban's takeover and claimed that the "women who left Afghanistan cannot represent us".

“Is it freedom to like the last government? No, it is not freedom. The last government were misusing women. They were recruiting women just by their beauty," she claimed, reported AFP.

Also read: Afghanistan: Protesters cancel rallies in Kabul after Taliban bans protests

A student named Shabana Omari told the crowd she agreed with the Taliban’s policy that women should cover their heads, according to an AFP report.

“Those not wearing the hijab are harming all of us," she said, referring to the headscarves worn by many Muslim women the AFP report stated.

“The hijab is not an individual thing."

(With inputs from agency)

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