Amid a split between hard-liners and pragmatists

Afghan women defy Taliban's burqa law

• Afghan women committed to wearing the burqa in Kabul.

  EPA

• Women demonstrating against the decision to impose the burqa.

  EPA

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Afghan Arosa was angry and frightened, and kept her eyes open to the Taliban while she was on a shopping tour with her friend, a few days ago, in the Makroyan neighborhood of the capital, Kabul.

The math teacher was worried that her huge scarf tightly wrapped around her head and a faded brown coat wouldn't meet the requirements of the latest Taliban government edict.

Arosa, who asked not to be identified to avoid attracting attention, was not wearing the blanket burqa favored by the Taliban, which on Saturday issued a new dress code for women in public.

The decree stipulated that only women's eyes should be visible.

Even the decree issued by the hard-line Taliban leader, Hebatullah Akhunzadeh, suggests that women should leave their homes only when necessary, and sets out a series of penalties for female relatives of men who break the law.

The decree was a major blow to women's rights, in Afghanistan, which had lived for two decades in relative freedom, before the Taliban seized power last August;

When the United States and other foreign forces withdrew at the chaotic end of a 20-year war.

The reclusive leader, Akhunzadeh, rarely travels outside the Kandahar region, the traditional Taliban stronghold.

He favors the harsh instructions of the group's previous period in power, in the 1990s, when girls and women were largely banned from school, work, and public life.

Like the founder of the Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Omar, Akhunzadeh imposes a strict approach, pairing religion with ancient tribal traditions, often mixing the two.

Analysts say the current leader of the movement favors the tribal village tradition that girls often marry at puberty and rarely leave their homes, describing this as a "religious requirement".

faltering efforts

The Taliban has split into pragmatists and hardliners, as the movement struggles to transition from an insurgency to a governing body.

Meanwhile, their government was dealing with a deepening economic crisis.

The Taliban's efforts to win recognition and help from Western countries have largely bogged down because they did not form a more representative government and restricted the rights of girls and women.

So far, the movement's hard-liners and pragmatists have avoided open confrontation.

However, divisions worsened in March, on the eve of the new semester, when Akhunzadeh issued a last-minute decision not to allow girls to go to school, after completing sixth grade.

In the weeks before the start of the school year, senior Taliban officials told reporters that all girls would be allowed to return to school.

Akhonzadeh stressed that allowing older girls to return to school is a violation of Islamic principles.

A prominent Afghan figure who meets the leadership, who is familiar with the internal conflicts, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely, said that a senior government minister expressed his anger at the movement's leader's views at the last leadership meeting.

Former government advisor Torek Farhadi said he believed Taliban leaders chose not to argue publicly, because they feared that any perception of divisions could undermine their rule.

"The leadership does not agree on a number of things, but they all know that if they do not maintain their unity, everything may collapse," Farhadi said, adding, "In this case, they may start clashes with each other."

joint concessions

"For this reason, the leaders decided to put up with each other, including when it comes to unacceptable decisions that cost them a lot of noise inside Afghanistan and internationally," the former adviser added.

It seems that some of the more realistic leaders are looking for quiet solutions that would soften hard decisions.

Since March, a growing group, even among the Taliban's most powerful leaders, supports the return of older girls to school, while quietly criticizing other oppressive edicts.

Earlier this month, Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajuddin, who heads the powerful Haqqani network, told a conference in the eastern city of Khost that girls had the right to an education and that they would be back in school soon;

Although he did not say when that would be.

He also said that women have a role in building the nation.

"There will be very good news that will make everyone happy, and this problem will be resolved in the following days," Haqqani said.

In the Afghan capital, women wore the usual traditional dress, with the beginning of the burqa decree.

Most wore the traditional headscarf, a long robe or coat, but a few covered their faces, as directed by the Taliban leader the day before.

Those who wore the burqa, a garment that covers the face and conceals the eyes behind a transparent window, were a minority.

Erase an entire generation

"Women in Afghanistan wear the hijab, a lot of them wear the burqa, but it's not about the hijab, it's about the (Taliban's) desire to hide all women," Shabana, who wore bright gold bracelets under her black coat, said. in making us invisible.”

Arosa, an Afghan woman who criticizes the movement's politics, said the new rulers are pushing Afghans to leave their country, explaining, "Why should I stay here if they don't want to give us human rights?"

Many women expressed their opposition to the latest decree.

"We don't want to live in a prison," said Parveen, who declined to give her last name like other women.

"These decrees attempt to erase a gender, an entire generation of Afghans, who grew up dreaming of a better world," said Obaidullah Bahir, visiting scholar at New York College and former lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan.

This prompts families to leave the country by any means available;

It also fuels grievances that will eventually spill over into widespread mobilization against the Taliban.

After decades of war, Bahir said it didn't take much on the Taliban's part to convince Afghans of their rule, but that it was "an opportunity that the movement quickly missed."

• The Taliban's efforts to gain recognition and assistance from Western countries have largely faltered, because they did not form a more representative government and restricted the rights of girls and women.

• Like the founder of the "Taliban" movement, Mullah Muhammad Omar, Akhunzadeh imposes a strict approach, pairing religion with ancient tribal traditions, often mixing the two.

• The Taliban has split into pragmatists and hardliners, at a time when the movement is struggling to move from the insurgency to a governing body.

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