Posters depicting women 'whitewashed' in Kabul as Taliban comes back to power; see viral photo

The latest images posted on social media presented a dark time ahead for women in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country. The pictures, posted by Afghan journalist Lotfullah Najafizada, show a man painting over the pictures of women that were painted on a wall in Kabul. The man is shown using white paint and a roller to whitewash large pictures of women outside a beauty salon. Several advertisements featuring women in wedding dresses have also been covered up in the city.

Kabul. pic.twitter.com/RyZcA7pktj

— Lotfullah Najafizada (@LNajafizada) August 15, 2021

The images have gone viral, with many expressing shock and dismay over the situation. After the Taliban’s takeover of the country, people fear that the freedoms hard-won by women over two decades would be lost. While the group has announced ‘amnesty’ and asked women to join the government, the group’s actions contradict its words. In July, as the insurgent group was consolidating power, its members forced women out of banking jobs in the city of Kandahar. The women were escorted out by gunmen and told their jobs would be given to male relatives. There have been reports that senior Taliban leaders in Takhar and Badakhshan provinces had asked local religious leaders to compile a list of girls over the age of 15 and widows under the age of 45 for forced marriage with the Taliban fighters. When the Taliban was in power from 1996-2001, it had imposed harsh restrictions on women based on the group’s strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women were forbidden from working, going to school or even venturing out of their homes without a male relative. They were forced to wear a burqa if they ventured out. The resurgence of the Taliban has led to many women fleeing to join the ranks of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), adding to the humanitarian crisis in the country.