New Delhi:
Afghanistan’s acting Interior Minister and Taliban co-deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani has said that the group will allow girls to go back to high school. He said there would be “good news soon”, adding that women opposing the regime should stay home.
CNN reported that after gaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban promised to be more liberal with their rules on women. However, the group soon reversed its decision to allow the girls in school indefinitely.
When asked about women who were afraid to go out of their homes under Taliban rule, the senior leader said, “We keep mischievous women at home.”
“It was referring to those mischievous women who are controlled by some other parties to question the present government,” he said.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is wanted by the FBI and classified as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the US State Department, with a $10 million bounty on his head.
“Already girls are allowed to go to school until grade 6, and above that grade, work on a system is ongoing. Very soon, you’ll hear great news about this issue,” she told CNN, without giving a deadline.
When asked whether all women have to cover their faces, she said, “We are not forcing women to wear [hijab] but we are advising them and preaching them from time to time. … (the hijab) is not mandatory, but it is an Islamic order that everyone must obey.”
Afghan girls above Class 6 were scheduled to resume classes in March for the first time since the Taliban takeover, but remain at home until a suitable school uniform is ready in accordance with Sharia and Afghan customs and culture. was asked for, an Afghan state media reported at the time.
After returning to power, the Taliban demanded that women wear at least a hijab, a scarf covering the head but revealing the face.
But since early May, he has forced her to wear a full veil and preferably a burqa in public, which was mandatory when she first ran the country between 1996 and 2001.
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