The country of Afghanistan has been in ruins after the militant group Taliban took complete control over the country. This incident took place after President Ashraf Ghani abandoned the country and flew away after the militant group got power.?
After fleeing away, Ghani released a message to Afghanis explaining why he left the country before militants could seize control of the Presidential Palace. The world leader explained he faced a 'hard decision' between an 'armed Taliban' and 'leaving the dear country that I dedicated my life to protecting the past 20 years.?
He said: "If left unchecked, countless patriots would be martyred and the city of Kabul would be devastated, resulting in a major humanitarian catastrophe in the six-million-strong city."??
However, this impending doom has left the future quite uncertain for the children and especially the women of the country. Fears and concern over the safety and rights of women in the country have taken over.?
In the midst of that, a picture that is now going viral on the internet has emerged on social media. The picture shows a CNN woman journalist named Clarissa Ward and a stark change in her appearance.?
The picture shows a before and after picture of the journalist in the midst of the militant group taking over. The before picture showed her in casual attire prior to the Taliban taking over Afghanistan's capital, Kabul and the after picture showed her completely covered from head to toe in a black burqa post-Taliban taking control of the country.?
People were shocked to see a stark difference in just twelve hours. Some also said that she needed to do this to adapt to the new government.?
However, Clarissa herself posted a picture clarifying how this picture isn't exactly quite accurate. She posted the same picture and said, "The top photo is inside a private compound. The bottom is on the streets of Taliban held Kabul. I always wore a headscarf on the street in Kabul previously, though not w/ hair fully covered and abbaya. So there is a difference but not quite this stark."
However, people weren't quite satisfied with her statement. One person showed another picture of hers and stated the difference in her attire after the Taliban takeover.?
The Taliban, in recent years, have said they are committed to providing women with their rights and allowing them to work and attend school, provided they do not flout Islamic or Afghan values. However, the Taliban also said they want to limit the freedom gained in recent years by women, which has promoted “immorality” and “indecency”.?
The Taliban had in its five years of rule prohibited women from attending school or leaving home without a male relative. Women, who disobeyed were sometimes killed, Sher Jan Ahmadzai wrote in Asia Times. During the previous rule, the women were required to cover their bodies and faces in a burqa and those accused of adultery were stoned to death in stadiums."?