Resistance to the Taliban on screen.

The presenters of the main Afghan television channels went on the air, Saturday, May 21, without covering their faces, defying the Taliban who order them to conceal their appearance.

On Sunday, they finally complied with the order, appearing with their faces covered. 

Since returning to power last year, the Taliban have imposed a series of insidious restrictions on civil society, many of which are aimed at limiting women's rights.

Earlier this month, the supreme leader issued an order that women must cover themselves fully in public, including the face, ideally with the traditional burqa.

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 initially chose not to comply with this order, before turning around.

On Sunday, they wore the full veil, leaving only their eyes and forehead visible, to present the newspapers on TOLOnews, Ariana Television, Shamshad TV and 1TV.

"We resisted"

"Our sisters are worried that if they cover their faces, the next thing they will be told is to stop working," Abid Ehsas, news chief at Shamshad TV, said on Saturday.

"That's why they haven't complied with the order so far."

"We resisted and were against the wearing" of the full veil, assured Sonia Niazi, a presenter of TOLOnews.

"But (the channel) was pressured, (the Taliban) said that any presenter who appeared on screen without covering her face should be given another job," she said.

TOLOnews director Khpolwak Sapai said the channel was "forced" to enforce the order by its staff.

"We were told: you have to do it. You have to do it. There is no other solution," he said.

"I was called on the phone yesterday (Saturday) and told in strict terms to do this. So it is not by choice that we are doing this, but coerced and forced," he said. lamented.

Mohammad Sadeq Akif Mohajir, spokesman for the Ministry of Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, said the authorities had no intention of forcing the presenters out of their jobs.

"We are happy that the channels have correctly exercised their responsibility", he commented.

The Taliban regained power in August 2021 announcing a more flexible regime than during their first rigorous reign.

But they have in recent months begun to repress opposition and erode freedoms, especially for women in education, work and daily life.

They started by requiring that women wear at least a hijab, a scarf covering the head but revealing the face.

Then, at the beginning of May, they imposed on them the wearing in public of a full veil, preferably the burqa, already compulsory when they were in power from 1996 to 2001.

With AFP

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