Several female teachers and students in grades one through six say the Taliban have warned them that they must wear “black hijab,” black face veils, black gloves, and dark glasses. According to them, this order is a precondition for children’s entry into school, and those who fail to comply with this Taliban directive will be punished by the group’s morality police. Meanwhile, some residents of Ghazni say they cannot afford to buy the clothing the Taliban are demanding.
These Ghazni residents consider the new restrictions imposed by the Taliban on girls to be contrary to Islamic values and the culture of the people, and they stress that this situation will cause children to stop attending school altogether. They add that the Taliban are looking for an excuse to close schools to children as well.
Rukhsar (pseudonym) teaches at one of the schools in Ghazni city. Describing how the restriction was imposed, she says: “For two consecutive days, members of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice came to the school and inspected every classroom separately. In a meeting with the school principal and other teachers, they issued a very serious warning that from now on we must be present at school in a complete black hijab, a veil showing only the eyes, and black gloves, and that we must also wear black glasses when commuting to and from school.”
This teacher adds: “The same order has been given to all teachers and students, even first grade students. They said that if they come again to check and find that someone has not followed our order, that person will be dismissed and expelled.”
Zahra, a student at Al-Biruni Girls’ School on the outskirts of Ghazni city, says the atmosphere in their classroom has become extremely fearful, and that she encountered a strange scene upon entering her classroom.
This student says: “Today when I entered the classroom, I was scared. Only the eyes of several of my classmates were visible, and I did not recognize any of them until each of them showed us their face once.”
Meanwhile, this student’s father, who did not want his name mentioned in this report, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that he cannot afford to buy the new uniform demanded by the morality police of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice for his daughter, and that he will be forced to stop his daughter from attending school.
Zahra’s father says: “Even now, the school clothing these girls wear is completely Islamic and in line with Sharia. These are children; covering the face is not even obligatory for adults, let alone for these children. I myself am unemployed and cannot afford to buy all these clothes, gloves and veils for my daughters. If pressure is put on them, I have two daughters, and I will be forced to prevent them from going to school.”
This comes as the Taliban, since seizing power, have imposed strict restrictions on citizens, particularly women and girls. Currently, the doors of girls’ schools above grade six, universities, and educational centers are closed to girls, and women are also banned from working in government offices and institutions.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
از حجاب سیاه تا روبند؛ ممنوعیت تازه طالبان علیه دختران صنف اول تا ششم در غزنی
