The Taliban barred beardless civil servants from entering their offices in Afghanistan on Monday. Eyewitnesses said that representatives of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Vice Ministry of Propaganda and Prevention blocked the entry of Finance Ministry staff because they were beardless.
The employees were allowed to enter the ministry after they wore hats as recommended by the Taliban representatives.
According to a report, the Ministry of Propaganda and Vice Prevention has denied stopping government employees at the gate.
“All government agencies were instructed not to allow women without the hijab and male employees of the public administration to conform to their appearance in accordance with Sharia law,” ministry spokesman Muhammad Sadiq Akif said.
The decision has been condemned even by pro-Taliban figures as Islam has never forced people to grow beards.
The Taliban have imposed many restrictions on Afghans, especially women, since taking over Afghanistan last August.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Propaganda and Vice Prevention earlier issued posters around the capital Kabul ordering Afghan women to cover up. The Taliban’s return to power is a nightmare for Afghan women. They imposed many regulations on women including ban on education, work, long travel. They have banned hairdressers from shaving or trimming their beards in Afghanistan.
Threats to women are becoming the ‘new normal’.
The party is reimposing repressive laws and policies of retreat. They are imposing laws that defined its 1996-2001 regime when they implemented their version of Islamic Sharia law.