'Most of the city is evacuating': Gridlock on Alberta highway after evacuation order in Fort McMurray
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Afghan women in Canada and around the world are posing in colourful traditional dresses online to hit back against the Taliban’s strict new clothing requirements for women in schools.
Based on their interpretation of sharia law, the Taliban has recently ordered all classrooms to be segregated based on gender, and mandated that all female students and teachers wear hijabs. On Saturday, photos on social media even showed a group of female students covered entirely in long black robes and waving Taliban flags in the government-run university in Kabul.
But many with Afghan heritage in Canada say their own traditional clothing looks nothing like that.
“That’s not who we are,” Neelo Mansuri, an Afghan-Canadian activist and law student in Toronto, said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca.
“The people in the Taliban regime have taken religion and exported it into something that is completely despicable,” she said. “Afghanistan is a country of colour. Not this long, black, grim Dementor-like clothing, if I can make a Harry Potter reference.”
Mansuri is among thousands of Afghans who are sharing photos of themselves in vibrant, multi-coloured ceremonial clothing, using the hashtags #DoNotTouchMyClothes and #AfghanistanCulture.
While every tribe and region are unique, traditional attire is known for its intricate, hand-stitched embroidery; detailed headpieces; long pleated skirts; and fabric lined with bells, beads and tiny mirrors -- all of which stand out when people twirl in a traditional dance called the “attan.”
“Black shrouds do not represent Afghan culture,” Dr. Fatima Kakkar, who teaches pediatrics at the University of Montreal, said in an email to CTVNews.ca. She wore a lime green dress with an embroiled purple top in her tweeted photo.
“It’s important the world sees what traditional Afghan clothes really are. Their beauty, the workmanship, the vibrant colors represent the country and its heritage,” said Kakkar. “Every Afghan woman I know cherishes their traditional Afghan dress and wears it with pride. So it was important to reinforce that that visually.”
Mansuri explained that a lot of traditional clothing people in diaspora wear comes directly from female embroiderers in Afghanistan. She called the social media campaign a small but public way to “stand in solidarity” with the women facing oppression and growing restrictions in Afghanistan.
The online avalanche of photos began on Saturday when Bahar Jalali, a former history professor at the American University in Afghanistan, tweeted a photo of herself in a bright, green Afghan dress with flowers embroidered onto a red backdrop.
She posted it used the hashtag #AfghanistanCulture, and the next day, she used #DoNotTouchMyClothes for another photo of herself. “We will not let our culture to be appropriated by those who want to erase us,” she wrote.
In the days that followed, many Afghans, mostly women, followed her lead on Twitter and Instagram.
“This campaign reflects resilience, identity and defiance against an unelected, imposed rule,” Toronto-area based Afghan activist Mina Sharif told CTVNews.ca in an email.
“Clothes are not a priority in a country facing what Afghanistan is at the risk of experiencing, but they are a universal symbol of expression and we deserve to reflect our identity.”
Sharif was raised in Canada but started a girl's mentorship program in Afghanistan and worked with women-led radio stations from 2005 to 2019.
“I met strong powerful women urban and rural communities -- modestly, colourfully dressed women in a variety of culturally diverse designs,” she said. In the past 20 years, aspects of more ceremonial attire have ended up in light headscarves, jeans and everyday clothing of women going to work in offices or schools.
“We ask the world to remember we are a people who deserve to live on our own terms and speak for ourselves.”
“There’s an apparent ethnic and cultural cleansing that's taking place in Afghanistan right now,” Tahmina Aziz, an Victoria-based journalist and member of the Canadian Campaign for Afghan Peace (CCAP), told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
“The beautiful, diverse tapestry that we had is disappearing day by day,” she said. “Afghanistan is known for its poetry, for its food, its sport, its art, and music… and we've seen these heartbreaking images of instruments being destroyed and woman being partially banned from sports.”
Aziz posted a photo of herself in a white and red embroidered dress to help bring attention to the work she and advocates have been doing for months.
She and CCAP have been pushing the Canadian government to broaden the special immigration program to help resettle more Afghans, provide more immediate humanitarian aid, and advocate for protecting the rights of women and ethnic and religious minorities.
In recent weeks, political science experts and Afghan families in Canada have also noted that many ethnic minorities, particularly Hazara Afghans and Sikh and Hindu populations, are at risk of persecution and even death if they remain in Afghanistan. Some have attempted to flee but many remain trapped in the country.
Although federal party leaders in Canada have made various pledges regarding Afghanistan, Mansuri hopes campaigns like #DoNotTouchMyClothes help keep Afghanistan top of mind well after the election.
“Afghan people today have made so many contributions to the social fabric of Canada, whether it be through education, work or otherwise,” she said.
“So it's not just a crisis for the Afghan people, but it's a crisis for everybody around the world.”
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
The Edmonton Oilers will start Calvin Pickard in net Tuesday for Game 4 of their playoff series with the Vancouver Canucks.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker railed against Pride month, working women, President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend.
King Charles III has unveiled the first portrait of the monarch completed since he assumed the throne, a vivid image that depicts him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of similar hues.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
The province has released more information on its plan to break up Alberta Health Services and replace it with four sector-based health agencies.
The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than US$1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, two congressional aides said Tuesday.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.