Kabul Shirt: Gross Capitalism Of Their Crisis Is The Last Thing Afghans Need

The Kabul plane video, that shows two civilians free-falling through the sky after unsuccessfully latching themselves onto the wheels of a departing plane, has emerged as one of the most enduring and telling visuals of the frantic despair that grips the people of Afghanistan under the Taliban.

This clip is among the many that surfaced amidst the mayhem that ensued at the Hamid Karzai International Airport as people scrambled to leave the country a day after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15. Disturbing scenes were presented in ground reports that detailed the chaos of confused crowds and stray firing from the radical Islamist outfit.

Afghans clung to the wheels and wings of US military aeroplanes taking off, in the process of which, two men fell to their deaths from a vessel mid-air. It seems impossible to emote to the incident with anything other than pathos and abject distress.

And yet... memes, jokes, apparel, products profiting off it abound in sheer indifference to human calamity. 

Users on social media pointed out that Etsy, an American e-marketplace that platforms independent sellers and brands, had on display t-shirts with graphics from the viral Kabul airport clip, captioned 'Kabul Skydiving Club.'

The graphics are not exclusive to Etsy products and appear to be a popular design on the internet right now, being sold by various other platforms.

Hi @Etsy, you have sellers exploiting the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by selling shirts depicting the moment that Afghans desperately clinging to the outside of a departing plane fell from sky to their deaths. An example and your House Rules below.

Respond accordingly. pic.twitter.com/xYpley82US

— Joseph M. Azam (@josephazam) August 19, 2021

SheThePeople checked the Etsy website for the said design. It was available as mentioned well until the afternoon of August 19. As of evening the same day, the design stands removed.

Kabul Plane Video: Human Tragedy Peaks, The Internet Mocks

Afghans appear to be dangerously close to the brink of losing their rights under the fundamentalist regime, with women and children standing nearest to the edge. Not even a week into the changed rule, there are reports of gun violence on the streets and the disappearance of women from public life. Here's what voices on-ground told SheThePeople.

Amid that reality, the Kabul plane video of two men falling mid-air represents the Afghan people's plight in its rawest form. Does the world, standing by as spectators, have any right at all to make money off such base misery? Should crisis be transmuted into humour or profit? Have the internet and capitalism obliterated the lines of humane principle?

Are digital establishments taking accountability for the kind of content or market they are fostering? 

An entire people inching closer towards a vacuum of dignity and independence under dictatorial religious policies carries neither levity nor laughs. That the future of women and girls - who may not be allowed to study or work or dream anymore - under the Taliban's regressive imposition of Sharia law elicits no amusement. Only fear.

And if the world isn't feeling similar fear, then it may not be human anymore.

Views expressed are the author's own. 

Suggested readings: 

Mahbouba Seraj: The Godmother Of Resistance Fighting For Afghan Women’s Rights

“Have No Tears Left In Me.” Afghan Women Fear Dark Days Amid Taliban Takeover

Taliban Forcing Afghan Women To Marry Terrorists, Leave Jobs: Reports

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