Afghanistan: Male News Presenters Wear Masks On Air In Solidarity As Taliban Order Women Anchors To Cover Faces

While the ruling came on Thursday, the Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue started enforcing it from Sunday after many TV stations failed to comply with the order initially.

The male presenters of TOLOnews, in solidarity with women, appeared on screen wearing masks.  ( Image Source :Facebook/Khpolwak Sapai )

New Delhi: The Taliban rulers in Afghanistan have ordered all women TV news anchors to wear face coverings on screen. While the ruling came on Thursday, the Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue started enforcing it from Sunday after many TV stations failed to comply with the order, media reports said. Most female anchors on air can now be seen with their faces covered.

“We resisted and were against wearing a mask but TOLOnews was pressured and told that any female presenter who appeared on screen without covering her face must be given some other job or simply removed,” news agency AFP quoted Sonia Niazi, a TV anchor with TOLOnews channel, as saying.

“TOLOnews was compelled and we were forced to wear it,” she said.

The Ministry of Vice and Virtue said the ruling is mandatory.  

“This is not our word, it is an order of God. Covering the face is a part of Hijab. But if the face is not covered, we cannot say it is not absolute observation of Hijab, but it is not a good observation of Hijab as it is supposed to be for women,” said Akif Mahajar, a spokesman for the ministry, according to a TOLOnews report.  

The order is one of the many restrictions placed on the women and girls of Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August 2021.

“It’s OK that we are Muslims, we are wearing hijab, we hide our hair, but it’s very difficult for a presenter to cover their face for two or three hours consecutively and talk like that,” Farida Sial, another TOLOnews presenter, told the BBC. 

She said the Taliban “want to erase women from social and political life”.

Taking to Facebook, Khpolwak Sapai, TOLOnews deputy director, said Sunday: “We are in a deep grief today.”

In solidarity, the male presenters of TOLOnews appeared on screen wearing masks. 

“We have been told to implement this (decision) by the stated time and we did it today. But our arguments are twofold: first, that there was no clear indication regarding covering female presenters' faces on TV programs in the recent decree about Hijab by the Islamic Emirate’s leadership. Second, the images of female presenters on TV are virtual and not the actual presence of women, and therefore TOLOnews stands on its position regarding this matter,” Sapai was quoted as saying in a TOLOnews report.