Remember when Afghanistan was able to be free and independent? They had lived that way for over 20 years because the U.S. had given that to them. And with the presence of our troops in the country, it prevented the Taliban from coming in and taking that away from them.
When Afghanistan fell, women paid the ultimate price. They lost their freedoms.
The Taliban promised that things would be different and that women would still hold onto their freedoms.
Slowly, over the past several months, the promises were broken.
And now, the free and independent press is gone. And the few female news anchors that remain are now being told that they must wear face coverings. On-air, in the station, and in every other aspect of their lives.
The masks are a way to prove that they are being good little women who are doing what the government tells them to.
It’s conformity.
It’s absolute power.
And it should have never been allowed to happen.
It’s easy to say that this is Biden’s fault. And while Biden and the rest of his administration will tell you that it’s the fault of the Afghanistan forces, that’s an even bigger lie.
Rights activists are condemning the move that was recently made by the Taliban. All female TV news anchors from all over the country are forced to cover all but their eyes.
Prior to the order that was sent out on Sunday, only a few of the news outlets in the country complied. Many of the female news anchors showed their faces because they had the freedom to do so.
Now, all of the women’s faces are covered because it’s a decree that came from the Vice and Virtue Ministry of the Taliban. Supposedly, the policy is “final and non-negotiable.”
So much for the Taliban’s promise that they were going to be more accepting.
One female TV anchor with TOLOnews, Sonia Niazi, said, “It 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.”
One local media official confirmed that the orders were presented to the station and that the orders were “not up for discussion.” This confirmation came through anonymously because they were fearful of retribution from Taliban authorities.
There were overwhelming restrictions on women when the Taliban was last in power, lasting through 2001. They required women to wear a burqa and barred them from both education and public life in general.
Oh, but they changed. And the Biden administration accepted that with open arms as a way to retreat from Afghanistan. They believed it all, hook, line, and sinker.
Today, the Biden administration wants to act shocked since the Taliban has been making a hard turn to go back to the way that things were.
Rights activists knew that it was only a matter of time before the Taliban went back to their old ways.
Governments around the world have been hesitant to accept the Taliban as the official leaders of Afghanistan. They have been heavily distrusted.
And now that they have gone back on so many promises, it’s only going to make it harder to deal with the Taliban.
As reported by NBC News, the Taliban has already ordered all women to wear head-to-toe clothing any time they are in public. “The decree said women should leave the home only when necessary and that male relatives would face punishment for women’s dress code violations, starting with a summons and escalating to court hearings and jail time.”
Just tune in to any of the Afghani news stations and you’ll see the horror of it all. It’s only a matter of time before the free and independent press is completely annihilated.
