Taliban bans beauty salons in Afghanistan despite rare public protests

The Taliban announced Tuesday that all beauty salons in Afghanistan must now close as a onemonth deadline ended despite rare public opposition to the edictSadiq Akif Mahjer spokesman for the Talibanrun Virtue and Vice Ministry did not say whether it would use force against salons that do not complyThe ruling is the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls following edicts barring them from education public spaces and most forms of employmentThe Taliban said it decided to ban beauty salons because they offered services forbidden by Islam and caused economic hardship for the families of grooms during wedding festivitiesIts earlier announcement of a onemonth deadline for salons to wind down their businesses led to a rare public protest in which dozens of beauticians and makeup artists gathered in Kabul the capital Security forces used fire hoses and tasers and shot their guns into the air to break up the protestThe ban also drew concern from international groups worried about its impact on female entrepreneursThe United Nations said it was engaged with Afghanistan authorities to get the prohibition reversedUN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres supports the efforts by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan UNAMA which has called on the de facto authorities to halt the edict closing beauty salons UNAMA has said that this restriction on womens rights will impact negatively on the economy and contradicts support for womens entrepreneurship and were seeking a reversal of the bansrdquo UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said MondayWatch Kargil War Memorial gets ready to celebrate 24th Kargil Vijay DiwasThe Taliban listed a series of services offered by beauty salons that it said violated Islam They included eyebrow shaping the use of other peoples hair to augment a womans natural hair and the application of makeup which it said interferes with the ablutions required before offering prayersGrooms families have been required by custom to pay for prewedding salon visits by bride and their close female relativesldquoThis isnt about getting your hair and nails done This is about 60000 women losing their jobs This is about women losing one of the only places they could go for community and support after the Taliban systematically destroyed the whole system put in place to respond to domestic violencerdquo said Heather Barr associate womens rights director for the New Yorkbased group Human Rights WatchDespite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during their previous time in power in the 1990s the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces pulled outThey have barred women from public spaces such as parks and gyms and cracked down on media freedoms The measures have triggered fierce international criticism increasing the countrys isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed and worsening a humanitarian crisisThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever