The story so far: The Taliban last week announced a new law on the “dissemination of virtue and prevention of vice,” which imposes its interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, on the Afghan people. It not only bans women from showing any part of their bodies or faces in public, but also silences their voices. It also attempts to regulate many aspects of daily life, from music and games to travel, clothing and sexual practices.
What does the law say?
The 114-page document published in the government gazette says women must cover their entire body and face “for fear of temptation” in the presence of unrelated men, as well as non-Muslims and “immoral” women. A woman’s voice is taken into account, singing, chanting or reciting aloud awra or intimate and should not be heard. “Whenever an adult woman leaves her home out of necessity, she is required to cover her voice, face and body,” the article said, stipulating that any violation will result in punishment. Unrelated men and women are not even allowed to look at each other.
Men must grow their beards and are not allowed to wear ties or have Western hairstyles. All games and forms of entertainment, even traditional children’s games played with marbles or walnuts, are prohibited as a form of gambling. Trips must be planned to avoid prayer times, and drivers are prohibited from transporting women who are not accompanied by a related male guardian.
The vice squad, called Muhtasib, has the power to impose discretionary sentences, including up to three days in prison. They can force people to venerate Islamic symbols and check phones and laptops to ensure there are no images of living things. They can also keep female voices or music from coming from homes or gatherings.
Is this a new development?
Many of these rules are already in place in Afghanistan, and some have been promulgated over the past three years through Taliban decrees, or imposed haphazardly by local enforcers. However, observers fear that the official codification of these so-called “morality laws” will lead to harsher punishments and give stronger support to the Muhtasib.
Also read | Afghan women filmed singing in protest against the ban on their voices
A look at Afghan history shows the extreme regression of these laws. Women in Afghanistan gained the right to vote in 1919, a year before women in the US. In the early 1920s, there was a rush to modernize the country with changes in clothing and educational opportunities, led by the royal family, leading to a backlash from conservative forces. . However, from the 1960s to the 1980s, women’s rights and participation in public life expanded, first among the urban upper classes, but to some extent also in rural areas. Women became ministers and judges, doctors and diplomats, singers and entertainers. The Taliban’s first period, from 1996 to 2001, was a brutal shock, imposing sharia law and returning women to the medieval era. However, in the two decades before the Taliban returned to power, a new generation of young women grew up with relative freedom to study and work, and many hoped that the Taliban had also changed their position.
“They were portrayed as Taliban 2.0, as more moderate, so we worked with them,” said Fawzia Koofi, a former female parliamentarian from Afghanistan, in an interview with CNN after the new laws were announced. She noted that even some daughters of Taliban leaders had been educated abroad in the intervening period. But since returning to power, they have “constantly targeted women” with “draconian measures,” she said.
Nayanima Basu, an Indian journalist who covered the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, and author of The Fall of Kabul: Messages from Chaos says people she spoke to in provinces outside the “Kabul bubble” were clear that the Taliban’s thought processes had not changed. “There is a difference between the Taliban leadership in Doha – which has given assurances to the international community that exclusive schools and universities for girls will reopen – and the Stone Age thinking about those actually in power in Afghanistan.” , she emphasized.
How do women in Afghanistan respond?
Some Afghan women have defied the ban on raising their voices in public, posting videos on social media of themselves singing, even while dressed from head to toe in black and covering their faces. Others can be seen raising their fists. Some have reportedly even protested in the streets, which “indicates that a small number do not care about their life and death because they have nothing left to lose,” Ms. Koofi said. CNN.
Others engage in more subtle forms of resistance, but with long-term effects. Pashtana Dorani, now in exile, founded a non-profit organization called LEARN to open underground schools for teenage girls in Afghanistan, which now has 661 students in five schools, who operate clandestinely, in shifts and change locations when they hear of surveillance by the Taliban. In a post on social media a few days after the new law was announced, Ms Dorani showed videos of girls in full burqas learning science, math and language. “They may close the doors, but they can’t take away our dreams,” she wrote. “No ban can stop us from striving for a better future. This week our girls continued to improve. Education opens doors, even when they are locked.”
What is the response of the international community?
There was condemnation from governments and celebrities. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized the new laws as “almost 100 pages of misogyny,” while actress Angelina Jolie called the regime “cowardly and oppressive.”
The United Nations immediately denounced the new law but said it would continue to “register” with the Taliban. UN Women called the new rules “oppressive”, while the office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights called for the immediate repeal of the “utterly intolerable” law. However, following criticism of the law by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the Taliban reportedly said it would no longer cooperate with the mission. In response, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the UN supported the criticism but “will continue to work with all stakeholders in Afghanistan, including the Taliban”.
“I firmly believe that political pressure will make the Taliban respond, but that political pressure has never been applied,” Ms. Koofi said. CNNnoting that the UN had agreed to the Taliban’s demand to exclude Afghan women from talks in Doha this summer. “So the Taliban thinks the world doesn’t really care about women’s rights,” she said, adding that there are differences between the north and south of the world and that this has “further emboldened the Taliban.” Some countries, including China, have accepted the credentials of the official Taliban ambassador. Although India has not established official diplomatic relations, The Hindu has reported on the Taliban’s efforts to install appointees in India.
Asked about the new law, foreign ministry officials shared a statement reiterating India’s position on the Taliban’s treatment of women in Afghanistan. “We have noted the reports about this with concern. India has consistently supported the cause of women’s education in Afghanistan. “We have emphasized the importance of establishing an inclusive and representative government that guarantees equal rights for women and girls to participate in all aspects of society, including access to higher education,” he said.
