#DoNotTouchMyClothes: Afghan Women Dressed In Traditional Attires Protest Against Taliban's Burqa Diktat

<p><strong>New Delhi:</strong> The new Taliban government imposing a mandatory dress code for women in educational institutes has prompted Afghanistan women across the world to protest against the mandate by sharing photos in traditional attires.</p> <p>Though women can continue to study in universities, including at post-graduate levels, classrooms will be a gender-segregated and compulsory veil or Burqa is mandatory, according to the higher education minister in the new Taliban government.</p> <p><strong>READ: <a href="https://ift.tt/3nwCvkG Modi To Attend First In-Person Quad Summit In US, Will Address UNGA On Sept 25</a></strong></p> <p>Female university students will face restrictions under the Taliban, including a compulsory dress code, according to the AP report. Even as the order didn&rsquo;t specify wearing the all-enveloping burqa, the niqab will effectively cover most of the face leaving just the eyes exposed.</p> <p>In retaliation to the Taliban diktat, Afghan women have shared photos on social media wearing colorful traditional dresses.</p> <p>On Saturday, photos in media appeared in which a group of female students are wearing head-to-toe black robes and waving Taliban flags in the lecture hall of a government-run university in Kabul.</p> <p>This sparked worldwide protest from Afghan women who started an online campaign to protest against the Taliban's dress code. They posted their photos in traditional clothes using hashtags DoNotTouchMyClothes, AfghanistanCultureand &nbsp;AfghanWomen.</p> <p><strong>How did the protest gain momentum?</strong></p> <p>According to a CNN report, Bahar Jalali, a former faculty member of the American University of Afghanistan apparently kicked off the photo-sharing campaign.</p> <p>Jalali quote-tweeted a picture of a woman in a full black dress and veil and said: "No woman has ever dressed like this in the history of Afghanistan. This is utterly foreign and alien to Afghan culture. I posted my pic in the traditional Afghan dress to inform, educate, and dispel the misinformation that is being propagated by Taliban."</p> <p>[tw]https://twitter.com/RoxanaBahar1/status/1436889709180071937?s=20[/tw]</p> <p>The campaign grew stronger with several other women posting their photos on social media.</p> <p>Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi, head of the Afghan service at DW News, also shared a tweet dressed in traditional Afghan dress and headdress with the comment: "This is Afghan culture and this is how Afghan women dress."</p> <p>[tw]https://twitter.com/WasHasNaz/status/1437156150022221831?s=20[/tw]</p> <p>Sana Safi, a prominent BBC journalist based in London, posted a picture of herself in colorful traditional dress, with an additional comment saying: "If I was in Afghanistan then I would have the scarf on my head. This is as 'conservative' and 'traditional' as I/you can get."</p> <p>[tw]https://twitter.com/BBCSanaSafi/status/1436997184671584259?s=20[/tw]</p> <p>Sodaba Haidare, another BBC journalist, said: "This is our traditional dress. we love lots of colour. Even our rice is colourful and so is our flag."</p> <p>Peymana Assad, a local politician in the UK who is originally from Afghanistan, said in a post: "Our cultural attire is not the dementor outfits the Taliban have women wearing."</p> <p>[tw]https://twitter.com/Peymasad/status/1436974465750118403?s=20[/tw]</p> <p>The takeover of Afghanistan raised concerns over the treatment of women in the country where women are considered second-class citizens, and subjected to violence and forced marriages.&nbsp;</p> <p>Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001 but was thrown out of power after a US-led invasion.&nbsp;</p>