Afghanistan’s burqa finds new followers of fashion

KABUL - The burqa is “in’.

Actually the all-enveloping cloak has never really been “out’ in the five years since the fall of the ultra-Islamic Taleban regime that forced all women to wear it.

But in today’s conflict-ridden Afghanistan, the garment seen by many as a symbol of oppression is finding new followers among Western women worried about anti-foreigner sentiment, and Western men looking for ironic gifts for lovers back home.

The growing number of women beggars and prostitutes on the streets of the capital are also choosing to hide their supposed shame beneath its all-covering folds.

And there are more and more cases of male insurgents caught using burqas to conceal themselves and their weapons -- with security guard searches under the voluminous veil a no-no even in these troubled times.

For most Afghan women the burqa is still a widespread item that can be a security blanket, protection against the pervasive dust, a shield for a breastfeeding baby, or a nifty cover for a nip down to the shops without putting on make-up.

In his burqa “boutique’ in Kabul’s main bazaar, Waheedullah Najimi admits sales have roughly halved since the Taleban were forced out of government in 2001.

But he still sells about 20 a day, the shopkeeper says in his small store lined top to bottom with burqas of different colours, sizes and quality.

The benefits...

Most Kabul girls choose grey-blue, while in northern Mazar-i-Sharif white is also popular. Light blue is worn in some provinces, and green is used in Kandahar and Khost, Najimi says.

Among the demure colours are one or two splashes of pink and red -- these are for foreigners looking for gifts, he says. As are the pint-size replicas, just right to cover a wine bottle, that sell for one dollar a pop.

As with any fashion item, the quality depends on the buyer’s budget.

A burqa in cheap, rough material delivered in rolls from Pakistan can cost a little as 200 afghani (four dollars). One in a soft fabric with careful embroidery in the front can sell for seven times as much.

Sixteen-year-old Hangama wants a new burqa for after her wedding in a few weeks. She has hooked the hip-length front of the garment over the back of her head -- as many women do when they need to see better -- while she browses.

“It is difficult to wear, it is hard to breathe ... but it is good because men cannot see me, nobody can see any part of your body,” she says.

“If we don’t wear the burqa, we feel like we are naked,” says 32-year-old Malalalai, who comes in a bit later.

Most Afghan women say safety is the biggest benefit of the burqa, which was also common during the civil war that preceded the 1996 rise of power of the Taleban.

That is also why today some Western aid workers and journalists have one hanging in their closet.

A journalist whose home was in the thick of deadly May 29 riots that engulfed the capital threw one on and escaped on the back of a bicycle as angry crowds milled around following a deadly traffic accident involving a US vehicle.

It also helps to hide one’s identity when travelling through the dangerous south where foreigners are targets of Taleban militants.

“It’s useful for security as it’s not so obvious from the car that you are a foreigner ... it’s obvious, though, that you are not local the minute you walk in one because foreigners move differently. They have a much more determined stride than Afghan women,” she says.

Burqa as security ?

Afghanistan’s educated women were the first to drop the burqa when the Taleban were forced out and they too detest the garment but recognise that for many the time is not right to hang it up.

“Security in Afghanistan is still a problem. Day by day it is getting worse. And the wearing of the burqa is still related directly to security,” says former women’s minister Masooda Jalal.

“For more women to stop wearing the burqa, we need to have full security and need to educate families in rural areas,” she says, referring to deeply conservative regions where men believe women should be completely covered.

Despite being such an overt sign of women’s oppression, the burqa is not the biggest women’s rights issue in Afghanistan, says legislator Shukria Barakzai.

Women in this conservative country have difficult lives: most are illiterate and poor, the maternal mortality rate is among the highest in the world, child and forced marriages are common, and women generally live as men tell them to.

“The big issue is tradition and the burqa is a small part of this,” says Barakzai, who doesn’t wear the garment even in the conservative provinces because as a “women’s activist, you have to be a symbol”.

And while the burqa may not be the new black, it has made it onto the catwalk, causing a stir at Afghanistan’s first fashion show held last month. The white silk and embroidered piece was intended to acknowledge an item so integral to Afghan fashion and give it a more positive look, says designer Zolaykha Sherzad, from the design house that put on the show.

“During the Taleban it was a way to oppress women but it has also given women a certain freedom,” she says.

“It protects you from the dust, from view, all sorts of things. At the same time it helps you to be free, you can really be who you are without worrying what people will say,” she says.

The element of disguise is something she also sees in the West, she says. “I see more and more women wearing dark glasses -- it is a way to hide. They can’t see you but you can see them.”

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