“We were told: you have to do it.
You have to.
There is no other solution.
The director of the Afghan channel TOLOnews, Khpolwak Sapai, left no doubt on Sunday.
The decision taken the day before by the presenters of the major television channels, including his own, to defy the order of the Taliban urging them to cover their faces to go on the air, had sparked the anger of the local authorities.
And gave rise to strong pressure from power.
"We resisted and were against the wearing" of the full veil, assured AFP Sonia Niazi, a presenter from TOLOnews.
“But TOLOnews was pressured, (the Taliban) said that any presenter who appeared on screen without a face covering should be given another job,” she said.
TOLOnews director Khpolwak Sapai said the channel was "forced" to enforce the order by its staff.
Submission of women
Since their return to power last year, the Taliban have imposed a series of restrictions on civil society, many of which are aimed at subjugating women to their austere conception of Islam.
Earlier this month, the Taliban's supreme leader issued an order that women must cover themselves fully in public, including the face, ideally with the burqa, a full-face veil with a fabric grid at eye level.
Previously, only a scarf covering the hair was enough.
Afghanistan's dreaded Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had ordered female TV presenters to comply by Saturday.
The female journalists had initially chosen not to comply with this order, going on the air live without hiding their faces.
Before turning around.
On Sunday, female presenters wore full veils, leaving only their eyes and foreheads visible, to present the news on TOLOnews, Ariana Television, Shamshad TV and 1TV.
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Afghanistan
Taliban
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