Niqaabs for Afghanistan?

Having just watched a More 4 documentary of Malalai Joya, the woman who was elected to the Afghani parliament after getting thrown out of the Loya Jirga for standing up to condemn warlords, it struck me that she wore the notorious Afghan burqa, which she said she disliked, to conceal her identity and encouraged other women who were in danger to do the same.

Why has nobody thought to introduce the niqab to that country? I understand that some will not exactly see it is a huge leap for women’s liberation, but a woman can easily pull up a niqab to show her face without showing the rest of her front, she can uncover her eyes or else choose between two levels of eye covering. You don’t get any of this choice with the burqa, quite apart from the cumbersomeness of the garment itself and, doubtless, the heating cheap fabric used in it. I wonder why it persists when a vastly more practical method of covering the face exists?

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