ALBAWABA - After tightening women's rights, the Taliban government is now targeting men. An official stirred controversy after claiming that neckties look like a cross with a hint of a possible ban.
In an interview with Tolo TV, Mohammad Hashim Shaheed Wror, head of the Invitation and Guidance Directorate, a department that seeks to guide people along proper Islamic lines, said men should not be wearing neckties.
Wror added that the symbolism of the tie "is obvious in Islam" calling out Afghan engineers and doctors to ditch neckties as they are so similar to Christians' cross.
The Taliban leader said Wednesday: "What is a tie? It is the cross. It is ordered in Sharia that you should break it and eliminate it."
Since taking over power in Afghanistan in August 2021, shortly after the announcement of the withdrawal of American troops and foreign troops from Kabul, the new government restricted women's rights. However, this is the first time the Taliban hinted at banning neckties or tightening rules against men.
Women were not only banned from getting an education, as girls' schools were closed, Taaliban even imposed compulsory hijab rules and shut down beauty salons across Afghanistan.
Taliban security personnel display seized weapons in Mazar-i-Sharif in July 2023. (Photo by Atif Aryan / AFP)
The statement by the senior Taliban official has caused a major fuss on social media as people slammed the comments by saying neckties are not even close to cross.
A person mockingly said: "Whatever it takes to eliminate neckties entirely from men's fashion is good with me."
Moreover, another Twitter user added: "As someone who has been forced to wear many a necktie, I can assure you those things are of the devil."
