Ex-Afghan Prez Karzai decries Taliban's all-covering burqa decree

Kabul [Afghanistan], May 22 : Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in an exclusive interview with CNN, slammed Taliban's recent decree to ask women to cover their faces, saying Burqa is not an Afghan tradition.
While criticizing the Taliban's directive, he said that the covering of the face by Muslim women isn't Hijab but a tradition in some countries. He added that Afghanistan has been a Muslim country for 1400 years, but covering the face of Muslim women is not a tradition in the country, reported ToloNews.
When asked if the new decision of the Islamic Emirate regarding covering the faces of female presenters on TV should be obeyed, he responded saying, "No, they shouldn't, because that has got nothing to do with Hijab - that has got nothing to do with Afghan culture either."
"They should not obey this. The Taliban leadership must rescind this decision, whoever made this decision. It hurts Afghanistan, it hurts Afghanistan's reputation, and it is not Afghan at all," he added.
Karzai also condemned the Islamic Emirate's decision to ban female students in grades 7-12 and said that the Afghan people will never accept the decision to ban girls from going to school.
The issue of girls' education is fundamental to the dignity of Afghanistan. Karzai said that the Afghan people will never accept such decisions.
According to Karzai, the "unfortunate" decision about the ban on girls' schools "hurt Afghanistan deeply".
The former president has also voiced his concerns about the plight of Afghan women and girls earlier as well.
The situation of human rights in Afghanistan has also worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban's return to power in August last year.
Although the fighting in the country has ended, serious human rights violations continue unabated.