Burqa prices surge tenfold in Afghanistan

During the earlier Taliban rule, women were required to cover their bodies and faces in a burqa, and were barred from school, work or leaving the house without a male relative.

With the return of the Taliban and an entire generation’s hopes of building a modern, democratic state going down the drain, women in the war-ravaged nation have started going back to burqas, leading to a whopping tenfold surge in the prices of the traditional attire in Kabul, as per reports.

A CNN report quoted a woman in Kabul saying that her household had just one to two burqas to share between her, her sister and their mother.

A 25-year-old university graduate, who works for a local NGO in Afghanistan’s Herat, said she hasn’t left home in weeks because of the fighting. From speaking with other residents, she said there were few if any women out on the streets, with even female doctors staying home until the situation is clearer

“I can’t face Taliban fighters. I don’t have a good feeling about them. No one can change the Taliban’s stance against women and girls, they still want women to stay at home,” news agency AP quoted her as saying.

“I don’t think I would be ready to wear a burqa,” she said, referring to the all-encompassing blue robe women were forced to wear under Taliban rule. “I can’t accept it. I will fight for my rights, whatever happens,” she said. – INDIA TODAY