The Taliban in Peshawar are warning people against wearing Western clothes, residents said on Thursday.
"I received a piece of paper written in Pushto, saying that doctors and medical workers are wearing un-Islamic dress which should be stopped," said Abdul Hammed Afridi, chief executive of Peshawar's main government hospital. "It was from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)," he said. "I have not issued any order to change dress. Anybody is free to wear whatever clothes he/she likes," Afridi added.
But people working at smaller, private companies said they were steering clear of Western-style trousers and shirts, instead donning traditional dresses after colleagues were beaten up in the streets. "My office advised me in writing to stop wearing western dress and start wearing the national dress after incidents of violence," Muhammad Saghir, who works for a private company, told AFP.
"Last week one of our colleagues was kidnapped by the Taliban, beaten and warned that pharmaceutical staff should stop wearing western dress," said Nasir Khan, president of a medical representatives' organisation. "They put a warning letter in his pocket after beating him," he said. |