Protesting against the Taliban’s rule for women to wear Burka/Hijab, several women in Afghanistan have started an online campaign sharing photos wearing colorful traditional attires. This comes as a rebel against the Taliban and its oppressive laws for women.
Hashtags like #DoNotTouchMyClothes and #AfghanCulture have been trending for many days. These women emphasize that traditional Afghan clothes are pretty beautiful and colorful in contrast to the Abaya imposed on female students of the country.
According to the document issued by the Taliban-run Education Ministry, female students, teachers, and staff must wear an abaya and niqab covering the hair, body, and most of the face, reports a local news website Gandhara. It further states that the clothes must be black and women must also wear gloves to cover their hands.
Surprisingly over 300 women, wearing all-black garments that covered their faces, announced that they supported the group and its decision to exclude women from high-ranking government positions. The #DoNotTouchMyClothes campaign emerged as a response to this.
Dr. Bahar Jalali, a former history professor at the American University in Afghanistan and founder of the campaign, told BBC, “I wanted to inform the world the attires that you’ve been seeing in the media [referring to those worn by women at the pro-Taliban rally] that’s not our culture, that’s not our identity.” She added that she started the campaign because of “concerns that Afghanistan’s identity and sovereignty is under attack“.
This is Afghan culture. I am wearing a traditional Afghan dress. #AfghanistanCulture pic.twitter.com/DrRzgyXPvm
— Dr. Bahar Jalali (@RoxanaBahar1) September 12, 2021
Following this, there has been a number of women from the country who have supported the campaign to protest against the Taliban’s policies.
This is our Afghan authentic dress. Afghan women wear such colorful and modest attires. The black burqa never has been part of the Afghan culture. #FreeAfghanistan🇦🇫 pic.twitter.com/v9LIbcvklG
— Spozhmay Maseed (@spozhmey) September 12, 2021
Peymana Assad, the first person of Afghan origin to be elected to public office in the UK, also tweeted out joining the campaign.
This is Afghan culture. My traditional dress #AfghanWomen
— Peymana Assad 🏔 (@Peymasad) September 12, 2021
Thank you to Dr @RoxanaBahar1 for the inspiration.
Our cultural attire is not the dementor outfits the Taliban have women wearing. pic.twitter.com/i9wFASfWR6
The Taliban had banned women from the workplace, stopped them from leaving home unaccompanied by a male relative, and forced them to wear an all-covering burqa in public in their last rule. Though they are trying to project a more moderate image this time, it recently replaced the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.