Pictures showing a man whitewashing posters of female
models outside a beauty salon have gone viral on social media, evoking memories
of the Taliban’s previous rule in Afghanistan. Reportedly, several advertisements featuring women have
also been covered up in Afghanistan’s capital city which fell on
Sunday with the collapse of Ashraf Ghani-led government following the Taliban’s over week-long offensive against Afghan security forces. 

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Until their ouster by the US-led invasion of
Afghanistan in 2001 over the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban from 1996 enforced several Islamic laws in the country,
based on their interpretation of the Islamic Sharia.

People faced public executions and amputations for
alleged crimes such as thefts and murders, while women were allowed to venture
out of their homes only in ‘burqas’. They also had to be accompanied by a male
relative. The Taliban imposed a blanket ban on all forms of entertainment including
cinemas and barred shops from selling music and movie cassettes. Girl students
were banned from obtaining education after the age of 8 in schools, according
to human rights groups and media reports from the time.   

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Now, there are renewed concerns about the treatment of women under a
resurgent Taliban.

Rights groups and activists are fearing a repeat of
the treatment meted out to women under the Taliban’s previous reign.

Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Hamid Karzai
International Airport in Kabul as thousands of Afghans mobbed the facility to
flee the country.

However, the Taliban on Tuesday vowed to “respect
women’s rights” in a slew of assurances in an apparent bid to allay the concerns of the international community and a wary populace over the group’s form of governance.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made his
first-ever public appearance to address a news conference, promising the group would
honor women’s rights “within the norms of Islamic law,” according to Associated
Press.

The Taliban have “encouraged women to return to work and have allowed
girls to return to school, handing out Islamic headscarves at the door. A
female news anchor interviewed a Taliban official Monday in a TV studio,” the
news agency reported.