Taliban bans women from visiting Afghanistan’s largest popular national park | world

The Taliban has decided to impose a new ban on women in Afghanistan. The regime limited its veto power to their presence in one of the country’s largest parks, Band Amir, located in Bamyan province – east of the capital, Kabul. The reason is that they are not wearing the veil, which is the Islamic garment that covers the body, hair and part of a woman’s face, or are wearing it incorrectly.

The Minister of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Muhammad Khaled Hanafi, called on clerics and security officials in the country to search for a solution to the problem during the validity of the veto.

The structure named Band Amir became the main national park in Afghanistan in 2009, serving as a meeting point for the residents and having a very familiar feel. It has been described by UNESCO as “a group of natural lakes with special geological composition and structures, and unique natural beauty”.

Despite the popular character of the famous Afghan garden, the country’s clerics said the women who visited it “didn’t follow the rules”.

“There are complaints about not wearing the headscarf, or the wrong use, and she is not a resident of Bamiyan. “They come here from other places,” the park management explained.

Maryam Suleiman Khel, a member of the Afghan parliament, posted a poem about the ban on social media and said the women would “definitely return to the garden”.

Ferishta Abbasi, a member of the non-governmental Human Rights Monitor, noted that “women were denied entry to Band Amir Park on International Day of Gender Equality” and highlighted the “total lack of respect for women in Afghanistan”.

The ban on women marks the new Taliban regime

The ban on women in Band Amir National Park is not the first ban imposed by the Taliban regime, which returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

And in December last year, the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice banned women from going to school. Then, at the beginning of July this year, they were vetoed from going to beauty salons, which were closed across the country.

Finally, in July, another ban was announced. With the resumption of undergraduate studies at the National University, women were prevented from taking field exams.

A month ago, the Taliban also lit a large bonfire to burn musical instruments. The reason given by the authorities was that the song was deemed “immoral and illegal” by the ministry.