Taliban enforcing face-cover order for female TV anchors

Afghanistans Taliban rulers on Sunday began enforcing an order requiring all female TV news anchors in the country to cover their faces while onair The move is part of a hardline shift drawing condemnation from rights activistsAfter the order was announced Thursday only a handful of news outlets complied with the order But on Sunday most female anchors were seen with their faces covered after the Talibans vice and virtue ministry began enforcing the orderThe Information and Culture Ministry previously announced that the policy was final and nonnegotiableIt is just an outside culture imposed on us forcing us to wear a mask and that can create a problem for us while presenting our programs said Sonia Niazi a TV anchor with TOLOnewsA local media official confirmed his station had received the order last week but on Sunday it was forced to implement the order and hewas told it was not up for discussion He spoke on condition he and his station remain anonymous for fear of retribution from Taliban authoritiesDuring the Talibans last time in power in Afghanistan from 19962001 they imposed overwhelming restrictions on women requiring them to wear the allencompassing burqa and barring them from public life and educationAfter they seized power again in August the Taliban initially appeared to have moderated somewhat their restrictions announcing no dress code for women But in recent weeks they have made a sharp hardline pivot that has confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and further complicated Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international communityEarlier this month the Taliban ordered all women in public to wear headtotoe clothing that leaves only their eyes visible The decree said women should leave the home only when necessary and that male relatives would face punishment for womens dress code violations starting with a summons and escalating to court hearings and jail timeThe Taliban leadership has also barred girls from attending school after the sixth grade reversing previous promises by Taliban officials that girls of all ages would be allowed an educationThis 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