Afghan woman TV anchor barred from entering office after Taliban takeover
Kabul/IBNS: An Afghan woman TV journalist has been barred from working at her station after the Taliban took control of the south Asian country.
Pleading for help, well-known news anchor Shabnam Dawran said "our lives are under threat" in the clip on social media.
In the clip, she could be seen wearing a hijab and showing her office card.
This is the stark reality of women rights "within Islamic law". Meet @shabnamdawran, TV presenter turned away by Taliban as she tried to work today. Despite wearing a hijab & carrying correct ID, she was told: "The regime has changed. You are not allowed in here. Go home". pic.twitter.com/y1imIAM6Yp
— Ash Alexander-Cooper OBE (@ashalexcooper) August 18, 2021
Under the Taliban's regime during 1996 to 2001, women were excluded from public life with girls banned from attending school. All kinds of entertainment were banned and brutal punishments were imposed.
Female journalists have also been targeted by the militants in a wave of assassinations in recent months leading up to the capture of Afghanistan.
Dawran, who has worked as a journalist for six years in Afghanistan for state-owned broadcaster RTA, said this week she was barred from entering her office while male colleagues were allowed in.
"I didn't give up after the change of system and went to attend my office, but unluckily I was not allowed despite showing my office card," she said in the video.
"The male employees, those with office cards were allowed to enter the office but I was told that I couldn't continue my duty because the system has been changed."
Dawran then pleads with viewers, saying: "Those who are listening to me, if the world hears me, then please help us as our lives are under threat."
On August 15, Afghanistan saw the Taliban completing a large-scale offensive by seizing the capital of Kabul, which led to the collapse of the US-backed civilian government.
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