Chapter 2 continues…

The emergence of the Taleban in October 1994 attracted media attention not because of their remarkable success in capturing a large area in a very short time, but because of their strict enforcement of dress codes and denial of access to education and employment to women.

Since the capture of Kabul on September 26, 1996, the Taleban government issued a series of edicts based on their interpretation of the Sharia. Apart from the restrictions imposed on women, men were also enforced to grow beards and they imposed a ban on most forms of entertainment, from sports to kite-flying and watching television. Kite flying happened to be an important part of Afghan culture and entertainment. Kite flying tournaments with its strict rules and regulations and massive public participation was an integral part of Afghan culture. Kite-flying was abolished and kite shops in the city had to be closed down. Corporal punishments like amputation of hands of thieves, stoning to death of adulterers, or beheading of murderers became cornerstone of their kind of justice.

The Taleban’s main organ that was to ensure the strict observance of such kind of Islamisation was the Office for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Amr Bil Maruf Wa Nai An Munkir), a religious police established in Kabul which was promoted to the status of a Ministry in 1998. Mullah Omar’s deputy in Kabul, Maulavi Rafiullah Muazin, a President of this so-called moral department issued edicts and imposed them on all sections of the population. Apart from prohibiting women from working or attending any educational institution, women were also ordered to cover themselves with proper cover (hijab). To prevent sedition and female uncovers (behijabi) the department ordered drivers not to pick up women without proper hijab.

Besides female patients were prohibited from visiting male doctors, female doctors and nurses were barred from entering male wards in hospitals, no discussion was allowed between male and female doctors and if a discussion was necessary it would have to be done with hijab.

To be continued…