Weeks after the Taliban entered Kabul, on August 15, many of the street murals have been painted over by propaganda slogans, as the group continues to impose hardline socio-religious rules in the country.
The murals were drawn over a period of seven years Afghan activist Omaid Sharifi's art collective- ArtLords. Over 2,200 murals painted across the country since 2014 venerated Afghan heroes, emphasized dialogue in place of violence and called for greater rights nad freedoms for women.
Taliban painting over murals| Twitter/@AFP
The group was not afraid of speaking truth to power and often brought the corrupt to shame.
Among the erased murals was one depicting US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar shaking hands after the deal to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan was signed in 2020.
Mural showing US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar shaking hands after the deal to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan was signed in 2020 | Twitter/@OmaidSharifi
Afghan activist Omaid Sharifi| Twitter/@AFP
"The image that comes to my mind is (the Taliban) putting a 'kaffan' over the city," Sharifi told news agency AFP| Twitter/@TaliaSchlanger
"The image that comes to my mind is (the Taliban) putting a 'kaffan' over the city," he told news agency AFP in a phone interview, referring to the shroud used for covering bodies during Islamic burials.
Over 2,200 murals painted across the country since 2014 | Twitter/@AFP
The murals venerated Afghan heroes, emphasized dialogue in place of violence and called for greater rights nad freedoms for women| Twitter/@OmaidSharifi
Sharifi, however, said that despite the challenges they face at the moment, he will continue his campaign.
"We will never stay silent. We will make sure the world hears us. We will make sure that the Taliban are shamed every single day," AFP quoted him saying.
"You might be able to erase murals from the streets of Afghanistan, you may be able to silence the voices in parts of the country for a while, but we will shout so loud that we will be heard. You wont be able to erase this from the memories and conscious of the world?," he said in a tweet.
