The most haunting imagine in NatGeo 30 years ago, The Girl With Green Eyes has resurfaced

12 year old Sharbat Gula shot to fame on the cover of National Geographic in 1985.

She was the green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' who shot to global fame when a haunting picture of her appeared on the cover of a 1985 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Now a picture of Sharbat Gula is in the news again - but it's a very different image.

A recent picture of Gula, looking less striking, is washing around in a row about corruption in Pakistan.

The haunting image of the then 12-year-old Gula, taken in a refugee camp by photographer Steve McCurry, became the most famous cover image in National Geographic's history.

After a 17-year search, McCurry tracked Gula down to a remote Afghan village in 2002 where she was living married to a baker and the mother of three daughters.

However, she's being investigated because Pakistani officials discovered she was living in the country on fraudulent identity papers.

This week the picture from her computerised national identity card surfaced in national media. It's an ID card that as an Afghan national, she's not allowed to have.

Pakistani officials say that Gula applied for a Pakistani identity card in the northwestern city of Peshawar in April 2014, using the name Sharbat Bibi.

She was one of thousands of Afghan refugees who managed to dodge Pakistan's computerised system and to get an identity card last year.

Faik Ali Chachar, a spokesman for the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), told AFP the Federal Investigation Agency was probing Gula's case.

'This is one of the thousands of cases which was detected last year and sent to the FIA. We are waiting for the findings of the inquiry,' Chachar said.

'Our vigilance department detected (the) Sharbat Bibi case in August 2014 and sent it to FIA for further investigation the same month.'

Many Afghan refugees try to get Pakistani ID cards every day using fake documents, Chachar said.

He said all the documents she used to get the card, which only Pakistani citizens are entitled to, were fake and her 'sons' were likely also not related to her.

It's a shame this woman cannot escape her war torn country to the point where she has to have forged documents and now they are even questioning the legitimacy of her children. (And if they are not her children, and they are from a war torn country and their families are dead, and she decided to care for them, who are we to say these children do not deserve her and she them?) 30 years later and my heart still breaks for this woman. Knowing Pakistan they will probably kick this woman out and find a way to separate her from the children. Even more heartbreaking!

a reply to: Anyafaj

I can remember this issue and I actually still have the copy believe it or not after my grandmother passed I got my hands on my old collection of NAT Geos and I was surprised this one was in the collection, but at any length I saw this recent photo a couple of years ago, thanks for the post!

originally posted by: phinubian
a reply to: Anyafaj

I can remember this issue and I actually still have the copy believe it or not after my grandmother passed I got my hands on my old collection of NAT Geos and I was surprised this one was in the collection, but at any length I saw this recent photo a couple of years ago, thanks for the post!

Anytime. I saw the article and was interested to see what had happened to her in years. It seems they have not been kind to her.

a reply to: Anyafaj

Yeah, well... the years are unkind to all our looks, mostly.

The Raiders line, "It's not the years, it's the mileage" comes to mind... I imagine she has seen some wear.

a reply to: Anyafaj

Who could ever forget that photo? I'm sorry to read about Gula's current problems. A life in a war zone is bad enough, and for some it follows them. I am sending good thoughts and prayers her way.

originally posted by: Anyafaj

originally posted by: phinubian
a reply to: Anyafaj

I can remember this issue and I actually still have the copy believe it or not after my grandmother passed I got my hands on my old collection of NAT Geos and I was surprised this one was in the collection, but at any length I saw this recent photo a couple of years ago, thanks for the post!

Anytime. I saw the article and was interested to see what had happened to her in years. It seems they have not been kind to her.

I hate to be the one to break this terrible news to you, but we all age.

This is actually natural aging, as opposed to the fakeness we seem to propagate in our societies with people in their 50's trying to foolishly look 20.

It's a stunning mark of our societies when this story seems to be being commented on more because people are SHOCKED and STUNNED that a 12 year old became a woman, than being talked about because of the interesting journey she's had.

I'm sure the photographer must feel quite sick seeing people fixating on how this woman looks compared to how she was as a CHILD.

If that girl didn't live in the world's armpit, she probably could have been groomed to be a super model.

originally posted by: Edumakated
If that girl didn't live in the world's armpit, she probably could have been groomed to be a super model.

Not if she married that baker. LOL

I too remember seeing that child's pic when it came out. Beautiful! But yes, we all age, every one of us and we aren't all beauty queens. It's what's on the inside that counts the most anyway.

originally posted by: Night Star

originally posted by: Edumakated
If that girl didn't live in the world's armpit, she probably could have been groomed to be a super model.

Not if she married that baker. LOL

I too remember seeing that child's pic when it came out. Beautiful! But yes, we all age, every one of us and we aren't all beauty queens. It's what's on the inside that counts the most anyway.

No doubt. I just think if she grew up in first world country, I'm sure she would have aged differently. I remember seeing that cover as well. It is a shame that next to Mona Lisa, that girl is probably one of the most recognized faces ever but she grew up in a life of squalor.

originally posted by: Rocker2013

originally posted by: Anyafaj

originally posted by: phinubian
a reply to: Anyafaj

I can remember this issue and I actually still have the copy believe it or not after my grandmother passed I got my hands on my old collection of NAT Geos and I was surprised this one was in the collection, but at any length I saw this recent photo a couple of years ago, thanks for the post!

Anytime. I saw the article and was interested to see what had happened to her in years. It seems they have not been kind to her.

I hate to be the one to break this terrible news to you, but we all age.

This is actually natural aging, as opposed to the fakeness we seem to propagate in our societies with people in their 50's trying to foolishly look 20.

It's a stunning mark of our societies when this story seems to be being commented on more because people are SHOCKED and STUNNED that a 12 year old became a woman, than being talked about because of the interesting journey she's had.

I'm sure the photographer must feel quite sick seeing people fixating on how this woman looks compared to how she was as a CHILD.

I do NOT mean the years have not been kind to her looks wise. Please let me clarify. The years have not been kind to her soul. She has been chewed up and spit out by man, by war, by Lord knows what else. She still has a haunted look in her eyes. You can see the hardness in her eyes. I could care less about looks. Hell, I'm no beauty! I meant soul wise, she is still haunted by the ravages of war and life in general. Please, don't take my statement the wrong way. I'm sorry, I should have clarified.

originally posted by: Edumakated
If that girl didn't live in the world's armpit, she probably could have been groomed to be a super model.

At least she escaped that.

originally posted by: Edumakated

originally posted by: Night Star

originally posted by: Edumakated
If that girl didn't live in the world's armpit, she probably could have been groomed to be a super model.

Not if she married that baker. LOL

I too remember seeing that child's pic when it came out. Beautiful! But yes, we all age, every one of us and we aren't all beauty queens. It's what's on the inside that counts the most anyway.

No doubt. I just think if she grew up in first world country, I'm sure she would have aged differently. I remember seeing that cover as well. It is a shame that next to Mona Lisa, that girl is probably one of the most recognized faces ever but she grew up in a life of squalor.

Have you turned off the TV and looked at real people around you?

originally posted by: Night Star

originally posted by: Edumakated
If that girl didn't live in the world's armpit, she probably could have been groomed to be a super model.

Not if she married that baker. LOL

I too remember seeing that child's pic when it came out. Beautiful! But yes, we all age, every one of us and we aren't all beauty queens. It's what's on the inside that counts the most anyway.

Sadly, it's not what's on the inside that counts. Most of the posts here have made that obvious.

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: Anyafaj

Who could ever forget that photo? I'm sorry to read about Gula's current problems. A life in a war zone is bad enough, and for some it follows them. I am sending good thoughts and prayers her way.

Yeah, that's helped so much to end war and oppression.

originally posted by: Tangerine

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: Anyafaj

Who could ever forget that photo? I'm sorry to read about Gula's current problems. A life in a war zone is bad enough, and for some it follows them. I am sending good thoughts and prayers her way.

Yeah, that's helped so much to end war and oppression.

No need to be sarcastic. If she wishes to send her good thoughts and prayers, what harm can it do? No need to be snippy about it.

originally posted by: Anyafaj

originally posted by: Tangerine

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: Anyafaj

Who could ever forget that photo? I'm sorry to read about Gula's current problems. A life in a war zone is bad enough, and for some it follows them. I am sending good thoughts and prayers her way.

Yeah, that's helped so much to end war and oppression.

No need to be sarcastic. If she wishes to send her good thoughts and prayers, what harm can it do? No need to be snippy about it.

No harm. Probably no good, either. It was just that the notion that someone living in a war torn country where prayers and good wishes didn't do crap to prevent war and oppression would benefit from prayers and good wishes struck me as being absurd. I should have realized that the prayers and good thoughts are really intended to make the one "sending" them feel good. That probably does work.

originally posted by: Tangerine

No harm. Probably no good, either. It was just that the notion that someone living in a war torn country where prayers and good wishes didn't do crap to prevent war and oppression would benefit from prayers and good wishes struck me as being absurd. I should have realized that the prayers and good thoughts are really intended to make the one "sending" them feel good. That probably does work.

Now, now, play nice!

No, in all seriousness, some people, myself included, believe what you put out, comes back to you. So if you put out well wishes and prayer, when you need them most, they will come to you. Now, whether this works or not, is a whole 'nother story, honestly. I would like to hope that they work. Otherwise, I think I would lose all hope for this world as a whole. I normally have a very negative, pessimistic, worry-wart attitude when it comes to the world as a whole, and my life. Since my divorce, I've been trying very hard to change that, slowly, but I'm trying at least. Part of that, has been my outlook on life, and yes, that includes what I put out in the world. Maybe I suffered 20 miserable years because I was miserable. So I'm trying to be more cheerful and put that out toward the people in my life, and even the people I read about in the news. I've been a much happier individual, so I would like to think it's working, but there's no true way of knowing really. But you're right, it does make the person praying feel good. But in all honesty, it's not as if they can go there, physically help the woman, other than donating to an organization that may or may not be shady, near her, what else would YOU suggest they do?

What angers me is the fact that media can take a person's face, make hundreds of thousands of dollars off of it without sending at least some of those monies to the person who could have used it the most.

This woman lived a life of squalor in a war torn country, did whatever it took in a desperate attempt to escape from it, and the western world pocketed the profits from her face.

Capitalism.
Oo-rah.

I am glad to see news of her again. Not only does she have a fascinating story, but she also snaps our attention to an often ignored part of the world.

a reply to: Anyafaj

Isn't this "refinding" story a couple of years old?
I remember seeing it.
I that why there is not specific dates are mentioned?