The Taliban have banned Afghan women from visiting the Band-e-Amir National Park, BBC reports. Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, Acting Minister of Virtue and Vice Affairs of Afghanistan, said they do not follow the rules for wearing the hijab in the park. In addition, “sightseeing is optional for women.”
He called on religious clerics and security forces to ban women from entering the park until a solution is found.
Bandi Amir was opened in 2009, it is the first national park in Afghanistan and a sought-after tourist attraction, a place for family vacations. UNESCO characterizes it as a unique natural site with rare geological formations. There were quite a few female tourists in the park.
In January 2023, the Ministry of Education of the Taliban government in Afghanistan banned private universities from admitting women to entrance exams. The ministry’s letter stated that universities would be held accountable in court for violating the ban.
Earlier, in December 2022, Afghanistan suspended access to universities for already enrolled female students. Also, the Taliban government banned women from working in non-governmental organizations – there are about 180 of them in the country. Because of this ban, the UN suspended some of the humanitarian programs in the country. The Taliban also denied girls access to high school in most schools.
Two years ago, the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. They said they would create an inclusive government and respect human rights. In fact, everything happened differently
After coming to power in August 2021, the Taliban promised to respect women’s rights, but soon began to impose restrictions. In September 2021, they changed the rules for universities: men and women were required to study separately and come to class in accordance with a strict dress code, which implies full adherence to the traditions of Islam as understood by the Taliban. The Islamists liquidated the 20-year-old ministry of women’s affairs, limited access to school education for girls, banned women from playing sports, and TV presenters were obliged to wear the hijab.
The Taliban movement is recognized as terrorist in many countries of the world, including Russia, but the Russian authorities maintain contacts with the Taliban at the official level.
