Afghan women dress up in colourful attire in ‘fight for identity’

Online campaign with hashtags such as #DoNotTouchMyClothes and #AfghanistanCulture slams dress code under Taliban.

Afghan youth rights activist Wazhma Sayle says she was shocked to see a photograph online, apparently of women dressed in black all-enveloping niqabs and gowns, staging a demonstration in support of the country’s new Taliban rulers at Kabul University.

The 36 year old, who is based in Sweden, later posted a photograph of herself on Twitter dressed in a bright green and silver dress captioned: “This is Afghan culture & how we dress! Anything less than this does not represent Afghan women!”

“It’s a fight for our identity,” Sayle said in a telephone interview.