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Kabul women want recreational park reopened

Kabul women want recreational park reopened

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2 Nov 2021 - 18:22
Kabul women want recreational park reopened
author avatar
2 Nov 2021 - 18:22

KABUL (Pajhwok): A number of women from Kabul have complained about the closure of a recreational park closed for two years.

The women called on the authorities to reopen the entertainment site known as Bagh-i-Shah-r-Ara.

Over the past 20 years, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has regularly renovated the garden, with hundreds of women from different parts of the city visiting it daily.

But for the past two years, the park has been closed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Women want the park reopened

Pajhwok Afghan News interviewed several women and all of them grumbled about the lack of recreational parks for females. They asked for the reopening of Bagh-i-Shah-r- Ara.

Suraya, hailing from the Macro Ryan locality of Kabul, told Pajhwok: “Before the outbreak of the coronavirus, women from different parts of the capital used to come here. But with the outbreak of the pandemic, the garden was closed.”

“While most of women are unemployed, there is no education and work, it would be very good for us coming here and enjoying ourselves,” she remarked.

Nasrin Sherzai, a resident of Khair Khana neighbourhood, recalled: “When the garden was open, we would come for entertainment once every two weeks.

“It’s a quiet, serene and lush green place, where our children played and we (women) exchanged pleasantries.”

Nasrin claimed after the outbreak of Covid, recreational places in Kabul remained open with the exception of this park.

But despite a significant reduction in Covid-19 cases, the garden remained shut, she added.

She called on government officials to reactivate the garden so that women could have a safe place for entertainment.

Madina Azizi, a resident of Tahia-i-Maskan area, pleaded with the authorities to reopen, the park. There should be exclusive parks for women in every area of the city, she suggested.

Shopkeepers suffered losses

A woman, running embroidery and cosmetics shop outside the garden also urged the reopening of the facility.

She said: “Since the closure of the garden, we have had no buyers in 10 weeks. , We pay the rent from our own pockets. We request the Islamic Emirate to reopen the park.”

Another woman, who owns a tailoring shop outside the garden, said the number of her customers had dropped significantly since the garden’s closure.

Declining to comment further, she called on government officials to reopen the garden and create special recreational areas for them in different parts of Kabul.

Pajhwok tried to get a comment from government officials, but failed.

sa/mud

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