Kabul: In a bizarre move, the Taliban has prohibited women in Afghanistan from praying aloud in the presence of one another. This latest order has further restricted the freedom of Afghan women since the group came to power in 2021.
The new rule was announced by Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. According to the minister, a woman’s voice is “awrah”, or something that should be covered, and not be heard in public, reported the India Today. The new rule states that Afghan woman can’t recite the Quran audibly even in the presence of other women. “When women are not allowed to call Takbir or Azan (the Islamic call to prayer), they certainly cannot sing songs or enjoy music,” the minister claimed, as quoted by India Today.
Stand Against Gender Apartheid! 🇦🇫
The Taliban’s draconian policies are silencing Afghan women, erasing their voices and identities. The world’s silence is complicity. We must fight #GenderApartheid and stand for the freedom, education, and rights of every Afghan woman. pic.twitter.com/r5H99RNmmn
— Jahanzeb Wesa (@JahanzebWesa) November 1, 2024
Meanwhile, such an order has evoked fear among activist that rules of this kind could further restrict Afghan women’s ability to speak in public. They dubbed the move as a ‘system of gender apartheid.’
New ban of Taliban’s Minister for Promotion of Virtue, highlight the alarming reality of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. His statement that adult women are forbidden from hearing or speaking to one another is a stark reminder of the oppressive measures Afghan women face daily. pic.twitter.com/NT0G7ZGr5O
— Global Campaign Against Gender Apartheid (@GCAGapartheid) October 26, 2024
Activists also claimed that since the group came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, it has effectively erased women and girls from public life by issuing over 105 decrees, edicts, and orders.
The activists also demanded an urgent global intervention to support Afghan women suffering under the Taliban’s oppressive rule.
Earlier, the Taliban had issued a series of orders and barred women from wearing revealing clothes. They had been ordered to cover their bodies in the presence of non-Muslim men and women.
