‘Taliban Wants To Make Us Invisible’: Afghan Women on New Hijab Rule

In case of repeated offences, the male guardian of the woman will be imprisoned, the order said.

Just a month after the Taliban in Afghanistan made the not-so-surprising announcement of barring girls from attending school, the administration has now imposed another strict decree on women – criminalising their clothing.

The order, the latest among many others that infringe women's rights, takes the country backwards by more than 20 years – to when the Taliban ruled earlier.

'Should Not Be Tight': Order on Hijab

On 7 May, the Taliban's recently reinstated Ministry for Propogation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced that it is "required for all respectable Afghan women to wear a hijab". The statement also added that the chandori – a blue-coloured Afghan burqa, which covers a woman from head to toe – is the "best hijab".