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News reports and Islamic women's opinions on wearing the burkhaVeil lifts on Islamic regime Women of Kabul reacted cautiously yesterday to the fall of
the Taliban after five years in which a repressive Islamic regime had denied
them basic rights of education, employment and even dress. Forced behind the
veil, isolated in their homes and banned from the classroom and the workplace
because of the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law, Afghan women remained
an all but invisible presence yesterday in Kabul. In stark contrast to the
high-spirited pranks of their menfolk, some of whom threw Taliban-style turbans
in the gutter, or hurried to the barber to cut off their beards, the few women
in evidence continued to wear a burqha veiling their faces. Excerpts from an interview with a prominent Hindustani woman: Should
women wear the burkha or be in purdah? ‘Wearing a burkha is a good thing... but it has to be a matter of personal choice’, says Mahbooba Mufti, ‘not a code enforced through threats’. Mahbooba Mufti, vice president of the People’s Democratic Party and the daughter of former Union Home Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, feels that the Lashkar-e-Jabbar’s campaign to impose the purdah on women goes against the tenets of Islam. ‘I feel wearing a burkha or using a veil is a good thing.
It is part of the Islamic way of life, and shows the respect Islam accords
to women. Before the advent of Islam, people in Arab societies used to indulge
in female infanticide. It is Islam which has given women the right to live,
given her a share in property as well as education. The veil symbolises the
dignity and honour of a woman. This is why most Kashmiri women keep their bodies
and heads covered in public. Even within the family, they take care to cover
themselves properly before appearing in front of male members’.
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