Taliban bans Afghan women from visiting popular national park
The Taliban government has banned Afghanistan women from visiting the popular national park, Band-e-Amir, in Bamiyan province, an Afghan agency, Tolo News, reported on Sunday.
The outlet also disclosed that Afghanistan’s acting minister of virtue and vice, Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, had called on religious clerics and security agencies to forbid women from entering the park until a solution was found.
According to Mr Hanafi, the ban was because women had not been observing hijab inside the park and that visiting the park to sightsee “was not obligatory”.
“Women and our sisters cannot go to Band-e-Amir until we agree on a principle,” said Mr Hanafi. “The security agencies, elders and the inspectors should take action in this regard. Going for sightseeing is not obligatory”.
However, Sayed Nasrullah Waezi, head of the Bamiyan Shia Ulema Council, said, “There are complaints about lack of hijab or bad hijab; these are not Bamiyan residents. They come here from other places”.
Also, Afghan former MP Mariam Solaimankhil shared a poem she had written on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the ban and wrote, “We’ll return, I’m sure of it.”
Fereshta Abbasi of Human Rights Watch disclosed that women had been banned from visiting the park on Women’s Equality Day and wrote that it was a “total disrespect to the women of Afghanistan.”
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, asked why stopping women from visiting Band-e-Amir “is necessary to comply with Sharia and Afghan culture?”.
Meanwhile, the Band-e-Amir National Park was the first Afghanistan national park in 2009 and a popular tourist centre. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes the park as a “naturally created group of lakes with special geological formations and structure, as well as natural and unique beauty”.
The Taliban has been known for implementing bans on women doing certain activities on what it insists is a temporary basis, including preventing them from attending schools in December 2022 and many more.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Heading 1
Asaba Incident: NCAA grounds aircraft, bans pilots from flying in Nigeria’s airspace amid probe
Mr Najomo expressed surprise over the circumstances surrounding the incident.
States
Lagos man in court for alleged N3 million Kuwait work visa fraud
The prosecutor said the offences contravene the provisions of sections 287, 314 and 411, of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
NationWide
NBC expands FreeTV access to mobile devices
The National Broadcasting Commission says Nigerians can now access Free TV services on mobile devices through a dedicated application, alongside satellite decoders.
Hot news Home top
Court orders ex-AGF Abubakar Malami to forfeit 48 property to FG
Justice Abdulmalik held that Mr Malami failed to show that the property were acquired through lawful sources.
Heading 2
Jamaican reggae star Fantan Mojah dies at 49
In a tribute, Ub40 Ali Campbell, described Mr Mojah’s demise as a sad development.
Heading 5
Oyo Hostages’ Release: Tinubu gave us Christmas in July, says Moyo Okediji
Mr Okediji, a professor of Art and Art History at the University of Texas, Austin, lauded the approach of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in rescuing the captives.
