Female announcers appear in niqab on Afghan TV screens
Female anchors appeared on the most prominent Afghan TV channels on Sunday, wearing the niqab, a day after defying a decision by the Taliban authorities that required them to cover their faces during broadcasts.
Since coming to power in August 2021, the Taliban have gradually curtailed women's freedoms and imposed forms of gender discrimination.
Earlier this month, the movement ordered women to cover their faces in public, preferably by wearing a burqa.
The movement has imposed on women so far only the veil, which means leaving the face visible.
And the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice asked broadcasters to abide by its latest decision, starting from Saturday.
However, in contrast, female announcers appeared on TV channels with their faces uncovered during the live broadcast on Saturday.
On Sunday, they changed their stance and put the niqab, revealing only their eyes and forehead, on "Tolo News", "Shamshad TV", "One TV" and "Ariana".
"We resisted and were against wearing the niqab," Tolo News anchor Sonia Niazi told AFP.
"The channel was under pressure, and (the Taliban) said that any broadcaster who appears on the screen without covering her face should look for another job," she added.
In turn, the director of the "Tolo News" channel, Khblwak Sabai, told AFP that the channel was "forced" to implement the decision, explaining, "We were told: You have to do it. You have to comply. There is no other solution."
"I was called on the phone yesterday and asked in strict terms to comply. So it wasn't our choice, but we were coerced and forced," he added.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Muhammad Sadiq Akif Muhajir, said the authorities had no intention of forcing female broadcasters to leave their jobs.
"We are happy that the channels exercised their responsibilities correctly," he told AFP.
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