Burqas Distributed For School Girls In Mardan
Burqas have reportedly been distributed in the schools of Rustam, Mardan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The burqas were supposedly distributed for schoolgoing girls.
A member of the Awami National Party National Youth Organisation shared a tweet that allegedly showed burqas that had been distributed in schools of Rustam. Expressing her disagreement with the move, she stated that dress was a personal choice and the KP Education Department should focus on improving education in the province.
Burqas distributed in Mardan ,rustam govt schools ,first of all dress code is a personal choice no one has the right to impose it ,secondly #Paroney ,sadaar is a part of Pashtun culture nt Burqa ,edu dept should pay attention to improving edu structure first nt on this pic.twitter.com/ywwrhNRei0
— Palwasha Abbas (@Palwasha_Abbas) October 4, 2019
Another user disapprovingly stated that the girls who had been given these burqas should burn them.
The girls should collectively burn these
— salma jafar (@Chiltan) October 4, 2019
As with the previous move to enforce abaya for schoolgirls in Haripur, people have been critical of the fact that dress codes are imposed for girls while boys are not disciplined in the matter. A user took to Twitter and expressed a similar opinion while calling the decision ‘creepy’.
Burqas distributed to young girls at Mardan.
Now, is there anything annoyingly more creepy in the world than an unspoken dress code? Why are we teaching our boys that its always girls' fault? Instead of teaching… https://t.co/t6SfbGfuug— Azmat Iqbal (@Azmat_Lakk) October 4, 2019
Moreover, observers have frequently criticised the imposition of burqas by saying that it reminded them of the time the Taliban ruled areas in the north-west of Pakistan. Journalist Amber Rahim Shamsi took to Twitter to share the news and said that she was getting ‘Taliban feels’ from this.
Getting Taliban feels pic.twitter.com/RBt1QkBeyv
— Amber Rahim Shamsi (@AmberRShamsi) October 4, 2019
The move comes weeks after the district education officer of Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had issued a notification enforcing abaya for schoolgirls. The notification was withdrawn after a social media backlash.
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