In Kabul, Afghan women protest veiled in defense of the Taliban

Several hundred fully veiled Afghan women gathered in a Kabul university amphitheater on Saturday to express support for the new Taliban regime whose policy on women is causing concern at home and abroad. .

To discover

• EXCLUSIVE - With the new masters of Kabul, our report at the heart of the Taliban power

Read also: Afghan women no longer have the right to play sports, and other prohibitions of the Taliban

These some 300 women, the majority of whom wore black niqabs covering their entire face except the eyes, waved the flags of the new masters of Afghanistan as they listened to the speakers who came to defend the measures of the new regime.

A handful of them had donned the burqa, a full veil with a grid at eye level that was mandatory under the first Taliban regime (1996-2001) and many women wore black gloves, noted AFP journalists.

The Taliban, who returned to power last August 15 twenty years after being driven out, are expected to turn around, especially on the issue of women's rights.

The population and the international community keep in mind the strict application of Sharia, Islamic law, when they first came to power.

Women were then not allowed to study or work.

Women "satisfied" with the Taliban

In the amphitheater of Shaheed Rabbani University on Saturday, the speakers who took turns on the platform criticized the women who have taken to the streets in recent days in the country to demand respect for their rights. They also defended the new executive which banned demonstrations - unless authorized by the Ministry of Justice. An authorization requested and obtained by the demonstrators of the university, according to Daud Haqqani, in charge of external relations at the Ministry of Education.

"

We are against these women who demonstrate in the streets claiming that they are representative of

Afghan

women

", denounced the first speaker. "

Is freedom to love the old government?" No, that's not freedom,

”she added. “

The outgoing government was abusing women. Women were recruited solely for their beauty

”.

Another student, Shabana Omari, said she agreed with the Taliban's policy that women should all wear a veil.

"

Those who do not wear the hijab hurt us, all of us

," she said, referring to the Islamic veil.

For another speaker, Somaiya, things have changed for the better since the Taliban returned.

“

We will no longer see 'bihijabi' (people not wearing headscarves),

” she said.

“

Women will be safe.

We support our government with all our strength

”.

Read alsoHas the Taliban changed?

At the end of the speeches, the demonstrators marched in the street waving placards on which one could read in particular “

the women who left Afghanistan cannot represent us

” or even “

we are satisfied with the attitude and of the behavior of the Mujahedin (Taliban)

”.

More than three weeks after taking power, the Taliban this week unveiled the composition of their provisional government, but their policy still has many gray areas.

The new regime indicated that women would be allowed to work "in

accordance with the principles of Islam

", without giving further details.