Hijab is mandatory for women, not Burqa: Taliban

The Taliban gave a huge statement on Tuesday since coming to power that they would not make the full burqa obligatory for women.

Previously under the Taliban governance, it was compulsory for all the females in Afghanistan to wear Burqa for traveling outside their residence.

Under their governance in 1996-2001, girls’ schools were sealed, women were banned from roaming and working, and women were enforced to wear an all-covering burqa in public areas.

“The burqa is not the only hijab (headscarf) that (can) be observed, there are different types of hijab not limited to the burqa,” Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the group’s political office in Doha, told Britain’s Private News channel.

The burqa is a one-piece over clothing that’s sole purpose is to protect the entire head and body, with a small panel to see through.

Shaheen further did not stipulate other types of hijab that would be considered adequate by the Taliban.

Many countries and rights groups have elevated the alarm for the destiny of women’s education in Afghanistan now that it is in the hands of the Taliban who arrived in the capital Kabul on Sunday claiming complete control.

Women “can get education from primary to higher education — that means university. We have announced this policy at international conferences, the Moscow conference, and here at the Doha conference (on Afghanistan),” stated Shaheen.

Thousands of schools in areas seized by the Taliban were stagnant operational, he further added.

Furthermore, the previous Taliban government forced the sternest clarifications of shariah law of Islam, launching religious police for the overpowering of “vice”.

Previously Taliban courts dispensed life-threatening punishments comprising chopping off the hands of thieves and stoning to death women blamed of infidelity.