Kabul to remove all photos of women from shops, storefronts

New Delhi: Despite the Taliban's promises to preserve women's rights after capturing Afghanistan, Kabul municipality on Tuesday said that it has decided to take down the photos of women on storefronts in the capital city.

As per the words of Nematullah Barakzai, spokesman of Kabul municipality, the government has ordered the municipality's officials to remove all photos of women from signboards at shops and business centres in Kabul.

"Based on the decision of the government, the photos that are against Islamic regulations will be collected or removed from billboards," said Barakzai, a report by TOLO news said.

The latest diktat is only another example of how the Taliban, under the garb of imposing Islamic law, has been snatching away the rights of Afghan women. Despite insisting they will rule more moderately this time around, the Taliban have already introduced rules for what women can wear at university, and beaten and harassed several Afghan journalists despite promising to uphold press freedoms.

Meanwhile, the owners of beauty salons in Kabul criticised the decision of the Islamic Emirate, and asked the government to not impose restrictions on their business.

Shayesta Saifi, a make-up artiste, has worked in a beauty salon for seven years. Shayesta said she is financially assisting her 10-member family. "This is imposing a restriction on women's work, there is a fear that they will lock our shop in the coming days," she said.

"How does it benefit the government if photos of women are removed," asked Parwana, a women's rights activist, as per the report.

This comes as international organisations have repeatedly called on the Taliban to not ignore the rights of women and to not marginalise women from the society. But the Islamic Emirate claims that it already respects women based on Islamic principles.