Earlier this month, the Taliban’s supreme leader issued an order that women must cover themselves fully in public, including the face, ideally with the burqa.
Seconds before going on air, Afghan presenter Nisar Nabil puts on a black mask, a symbolic gesture to protest against the Taliban’s decision to force female presenters to cover their faces on television.
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« We take a stand to support our female colleaguesNisar Nabil, who works at TOLOnews, Afghanistan’s main private news channel, told AFP. « During our live news broadcasts or political broadcasts, we wear masks as a form of protest“, he added, after presenting a masked news bulletin.
Since their return to power last year, the Taliban have imposed a series of restrictions on civil society, many of which are aimed at subjugating women to their fundamentalist conception of Islam. Earlier this month, Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued an order that women must cover themselves fully in public, including the face, ideally with the burqa, a full-face veil with a fabric grille at the eye level. Previously, a scarf covering the hair was enough. Afghanistan’s dreaded Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had ordered female TV presenters to comply by Saturday.
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“Pressure on the media”
The female journalists had initially chosen not to comply with this order, going on the air live without hiding their faces. Before turning around: On Sunday, the presenters wore full veils, leaving only their eyes and foreheads visible, to present the newspapers on the TOLOnews, Ariana Television, Shamshad TV and 1TV channels.
In solidarity with their sisters and to protest against the Taliban order, the presenters of TOLOnews and 1TV decided to go on the air wearing black masks. Thus masked, they also sometimes present joint programs with their female colleagues. « The Taliban want to pressure the media with these restrictions (…). They want the media to work according to their plans“, regretted Nisar Nabil, wearing a tie and dressed in a blazer and jeans.
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At the offices of 1TV, another major private channel, male presenters and network employees also wear masks, while women wear full-face veils, leaving only their eyes and foreheads visible. « We agree with our presenters who agree to wear Islamic hijabs but do not wish to have a mask, because it is difficult to hold a program for three or four hours like that“, told AFP the editor of the channel, Idrees Faroqi.
Restrictions for presenters?
« We hope they (the Taliban) will reverse their decision and remove these restrictions“, he adds. Behind him, a journalist presents a news bulletin. During breaks, she wipes the sweat beading on her face. Taliban officials do not appear to be moving towards overturning the decree.
« If forcing presenters to wear a tie is accepted, then why would obliging to wear a hijab be a bad thing?“, Estimated the deputy government spokesman Inamullah Samangani, on Twitter this week. « If a tie can be part of a uniform (on TV), why can’t a hijab be part of it too?« , he added. According to 1TV presenter Mohib Yousufi, it is only a matter of time before the authorities also impose dress restrictions on men. « Many male presenters now fear there will also be restrictions on how they dress“, worries the journalist, wearing a suit and black mask. On state television, where no women present the paper, male presenters now wear the shalwar kameez – the traditional Afghan tunic – and a turban.
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