KABUL: The Taliban has issued a new decree stating that including women’s photos on Electronic Identity Cards is not mandatory unless there is a religious necessity, and it will be optional. Only women living abroad or traveling for medical reasons will be required to include a photo. This decision has faced strong backlash from women’s rights activists, many of whom view it as an outright deprivation of women’s identity rights. They emphasize that the Taliban’s decree is inherently anti-women and effectively sidelines women’s rights to recognition and equal participation in society. Previously, Taliban’s National Statistics and Information Authority had insisted on the necessity of including photos in all identity cards, providing 11 reasons such as preventing fraud, facilitating travel, and meeting international standards, but Dar al-Ifta deemed 10 of these reasons “un-Islamic” and accepted only one. According to the decree, stating a woman’s name, father’s name, grandfather’s name, and residential address is sufficient for identity verification, and no photo is needed. The Taliban’s Dar al-Ifta also stressed that international travel is conducted via passports and visas, making identity cards unnecessary in this context. The reaction from women and human rights activists has been widespread. They argue that making the inclusion of photos optional deprives women of their right to official identity. Social media users have launched the hashtag “My Photo, My Identity,” calling on the international community not to remain silent against this decision. The Movement for the Transformation of Women’s History in Afghanistan has also stated, “This decree violates the principle of human equality and citizenship rights, depriving women of their right to identity and recognition.” Protesters are demanding the issuance of identity documents without gender discrimination.
