Taliban's horror continues; Afghan shops ordered to not sell goods to women without hijab

Amid the ongoing political, social and economic crisis in Afghanistan, Taliban authorities have ordered shopkeepers in the nation's Balkh province to not sell any item to women who are not wearing a hijab and further threatened them with repercussions if they fail to comply. The Taliban officials from the Ministry of Propagation Virtue and Prevention of Vice of Afghanistan have told store owners in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh province's provincial capital in northern Afghanistan, not to sell anything to women who are not wearing a hijab, citing local sources, Khaama Press reported. 

In the latest oppressive move by the Taliban, shop owners have been warned that if they sell goods to women who did not wear the hijab, in accordance with the new edict, they would face severe actions. 

It is pertinent to mention that the Taliban's Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has earlier proclaimed that all women in Afghanistan must wear the hijab, and their mandated hijab for Afghan women recommended the all-encompassing blue burqa, Chadari, which became a global symbol of the Taliban's previous iron-clad rule from 1996 to 2001. 

Taliban's clamp down on Afghan women's basic rights

Since the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in August of last year, they have continuously increased the crimes perpetrated against Afghan women while depriving them of basic human rights. Taliban has placed severe limitations on women's and girls' freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and mobility. 

Furthermore, according to a report from August, the Taliban allegedly refused to let female students from Afghanistan travel to Kazakhstan and Qatar for further education. Only male students are permitted to leave Kabul, the Afghan capital, according to reports cited by the Russian news outlet Sputnik. In addition, it was said that the "all-men" management forbade female students from departing Afghanistan for academic purposes. 

The grim turn of events occurred roughly six months after the Taliban administration shut down all girls' schooling past the sixth grade. While the Taliban had first declared that education would be accessible "for all" in Afghanistan. But, triggering widespread condemnation, the outfit reversed course in March of this year, by directing schools to stop admitting females beyond the sixth grade. 

Besides this, Afghan women were demonstrating the right to work and study on the streets of Kabul days before the first anniversary of the Taliban's takeover. However, the women protesters were met by the Taliban opening fire on the crowd. The women can be seen fleeing as Taliban gunmen attempt to scatter them by firing in the footage that Republic Media Network has access to. The demonstrators underlined the need for freedom, employment, and access to food in Afghanistan. 

(Image: AP)