'Final And Non-Negotiable': Taliban Order Female Afghan TV Presenters To Cover Faces On Air
Several female anchors and presenters posted their photos on social media showing them with their faces covered with face masks while presenting programs.
The worst isn't over yet for Afghan Women. On Thursday, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers ordered all-female presenters on TV channels to cover their faces on air.
The order came in a statement from the Taliban's Virtue and Vice Ministry, tasked with enforcing the group's rulings.
The TOLOnews channel said in a tweet from the Information and Culture Ministry.
The statement called the order "final and non-negotiable," the channel said.
Zabihullah Mujahid, #Taliban spokesman says about women being forced to wear mask and cover their face that, when everyone covered their face in time of #COVID19, it wasn't a problem, so it shouldn't be a problem now either.
¡ª Natiq Malikzada (@natiqmalikzada) May 19, 2022
Video with English subtitles? pic.twitter.com/v73Ayxn5h4
The statement was sent to the Moby Group, which owns TOLOnews and several other TV and radio networks, and the tweet said it was being applied to other Afghan media.
The Islamic Emirate in a new order demanded all female presenters working in all TV channels to cover their faces while presenting programs... 1/2#TOLOnews
¡ª TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) May 19, 2022
Informing MOBY Group of the order, representatives of the ministries of Vice and Virtue and Information and Culture called it a final verdict and not up for discussion. Based on information received by TOLOnews, the order has been issued to all media outlets in Afghanistan. 2/2
¡ª TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) May 19, 2022
An Afghan local media official confirmed his station had received the order and was told it was not up for discussion.
Twitter
He said the station had no other option. He spoke on condition that he and his station not be identified for fear of problems with the authorities.
Many female anchors and presenters posted their photos on social media showing them with their faces covered with face masks while presenting programs.
Horrible. #Afghanistan¡¯s Taliban has ordered women TV presenters to cover their faces on air. This comes 2 weeks after religious police ordered Afghan women to wear face veil in public: pic.twitter.com/NpBW7YZPnC
¡ª Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) May 19, 2022
One prominent TOLO presenter, Yalda Ali, posted a video of herself putting on a face mask with a caption:
The #Taliban in a new order have ordered all female journalists & TV presenters in AFG to wear masks and cover their faces.
¡ª Natiq Malikzada (@natiqmalikzada) May 18, 2022
Yalda Ali, host of @TOLO_TV famous morning show 'Bamdad Khosh' in response to TBN new order wrote on her IG: this is me, the woman who is being eliminated. pic.twitter.com/E9x1zJaDA8
"A woman being erased, on orders from the Virtue and Vice Ministry."
On one station, Shamshad TV, implementation of the order was mixed: one female anchor appeared with a face mask on Thursday, while another later in the day went without showing her face.
Female television presenters now covering their faces when they appear on the screen in Afghanistan. The Taliban continue to say they aren¡¯t enforcing the face veil. Why then are these women forced to appear on tv with face coverings? pic.twitter.com/IvDEioUeky
¡ª Yalda Hakim (@BBCYaldaHakim) May 19, 2022
During the Taliban's first time in power, from 1996¨Cto 2001, they imposed overwhelming restrictions on women.
The restrictions included them wearing the all-encompassing burqa that even covered the eyes with a mesh and barring them from public life and education.
The final nail in the coffin for women¡¯s rights in Afghanistan is the latest Taliban decree that if women had no important work outside it was "better they stay at home¡± or avoid going outside all together.
¡ª Shabnam Nasimi (@NasimiShabnam) May 14, 2022
There is no other place in the world that is doing this to women.
After they seized power again in Afghanistan in August, the Taliban initially appeared to have moderated some of their restrictions, announcing no dress code for women.
A new Taliban decree has forbidden men and women from eating at restaurants together and visiting parks at the same time, even if you¡¯re a married couple.
¡ª Shabnam Nasimi (@NasimiShabnam) May 12, 2022
Afghanistan is facing the most serious women¡¯s rights crisis in the world today.
But things took a U-turn in recent weeks, confirming the worst fears of rights activists.
Reuters
Earlier this month, the Taliban ordered all women in public to wear head-to-toe clothing that leaves only their eyes visible.
Taliban Make Burqa Mandatory
The decree said women should go home only when necessary. That male relative would face punishment for women's dress code violations, starting with a summons and escalating to court hearings and jail time.
The Taliban leader also issued a decree barring girls from attending school after sixth grade, reversing previous promises by Taliban officials that girls of all ages would be allowed an education.
(With PTI inputs)
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