Taliban imposed yet another restriction on Afghan women on Monday that will bar them from restaurants with gardens or green spaces in the Herat province of Afghanistan. The conservative power which is predominantly male continues to tyrannise over women and now bans their entry into restaurants with green spaces. Taliban has imposed this ban on families as well.
The decision came after religious clerics complained of mixing genders in such public places. Afghan officials said that this step has been taken because of gender mixing, as many women allegedly were seen not wearing the hijab.
So far, the ban is applicable to outdoor restaurants with green spaces only in Herat; as such premises remain open to men. Baz Mohammad Nazir, a deputy official from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue’s directorate in Herat denied media reports that all restaurants were off limits to families and women, dismissing them as propaganda.
He said it applied only to restaurants with green areas, such as a park, where men and women could meet. “After repeated complaints from scholars and ordinary people, we set limits and closed these restaurants.”
Azizurrahman Al Muhajir, who is head of the Vice and Virtue directorate in Herat, said, “It was like a park but they named it a restaurant and men and women were together. Thank God it has been corrected now. Also, our auditors are observing all the parks where men and women go.”
This was the latest form of restrictions imposed by the Taliban since they took power in August 2021. In the past, they have shut girls out of classrooms beyond the sixth grade and women from universities, and most types of employment, including jobs at the UN. They are also banned from public spaces such as parks and gyms.
Watch | Taliban ban women from restaurants and green spaces in Afghanistan
The UN said that 3300 male and female employees of the organization have stayed at home since women were banned from working at UN agencies.
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the situation of women, their rights and basic freedom has been deteriorating. Women in the country are prohibited from leadership roles, and not allowed to work as well as travel unless accompanied by a male companion.
Though the Taliban promised to reopen all schools on March 23 this year, instead, they closed secondary institutions for girls on that day.
There is still no word on when or if these schools will ever reopen or if the ban is indefinite.
(With inputs from agencies)
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