Cricket match boycott? England v Afghanistan, in protest of sex-based apartheid

[DissidentDaughter]

Now the Taliban have decreed that women should not even be visible through the windows and in back yards of their own homes.

The punishment meted out for the ‘crime’ of being female is relentless: no access to education, to meaningful health and maternity services, no talking, no singing, condemned to a burkha and life in a darkened house - half the population systematically ‘disappeared’ from Afghan society. Voiceless and invisible.

What the Taliban are enforcing is a ruthless form of apartheid, yet the international community remains strangely silent.

🏏 Why is the England cricket team set to play Afghanistan in February? Surely we, and other participating nations, should be calling for a boycott?

https://x.com/victoriapeckham/status/1873328631357047195?s=61

AIBU It’s only cricket, fundamental human rights abuses are an inconvenient issue that should take a back seat.

YANBU It’s the least we can do to raise the issue of the cruel, sex-based dehumanisation of half the Afghan population.

Totally agree with you. I love cricket but I won’t be support any matches involving Afghanistan.

Yeah, that'll learn 'em.

I presume that much of the Afghan population aren't too keen on the Taliban either.

And the Taliban don't like cricket (nor do they love it), they banned it last time around.

Exactly, the Taliban don’t approve of cricket either.

I’m wary of making ordinary Afghans feel abandoned. I’d much rather donate to women’s charities on the ground in Afghanistan than boycott their cricket team.

The Taliban won’t care

I'm in! Where do we assemble?

Didn't cricket boycotted South Africa over their apartheid laws? Don’t see why we can’t make a similar stand over Afghanistan.

Contrary to what some may believe, it seems the Taliban are quite keen on cricket…

www.info-res.org/afghan-witness/reports/taliban-sportswashing-using-afghan-cricket-team/

Totally agree with you OP, it's a fucking disgrace

Absolutely with you & happy to buy a ticket & stand behind the wickets wearing a burqa holding a banner.

I would be happy to attend a protest if there is one.

Indeed 🏏 We’ve made a stand in the past vs Zimbabwe and its apartheid regime.

x.com/dalgetysusan/status/1873419856646955185?s=61

The silence surrounding this is simply mind blowing.

I can't help feel that if it was a group of people other than "just women" social media and the International community would be in an uproar.

If we (for example) decided that Australians weren't allowed to speak or be seen or be educated, people would lose their minds.

The reality is, no one cares when the victims are exclusively female.

And we are privileged not to be living under Taliban rule... But one look at the rates of domestic violence and women being assaulted and/or killed here and it makes you wonder.

I don't think we are as far removed from it as we belive we are.

Can not believe England are still playing Afghanistan. Disgusting.

Im in. We need to make more noise about this.

@CatsndtheBear well said. It’s truly chilling, on an epic scale.

That women and girls - half the population ffs - are viewed and actively treated as less than human. While the rest of the world determinedly turns a blind eye.

And, yes, judging by the deafening silence, we are not as far removed from the pervasive mindset as we might believe.

I think sports should be completely separate from politics as generally the people playing it aren't involved in the politics of the country, so it punishes the wrong groups.

Maybe the other half of the population should be doing something about it. Nothing will change unless it comes from within

The Zimbabwe boycott was about player safety, I recall. Indeed two of the team who played part of the year in England applied for asylum here.

I’m a big cricket fan and a firm believer that Afghanistan should not be in any international tournaments , playing test series or indeed any international cricket . It’s an absolute joke . During the apartheid years South Africa was banned so why not the same for Afghanistan now , what is happening in the country is no less appalling . I’m not a great fan of Australia cricket but at least they refuse to play them in the normal routine games , which is more than any country has done .

When only Afghan men have the privilege of running freely on a cricket pitch under a blazing sun, whooping and cheering together etc while women are relegated to perpetual darkness, silence and zero participation in society, I strongly disagree.

Where’s the honour in playing this match, for any side?

I don’t disagree, tho I suspect the Taliban regime is pretty harsh. In the meantime, there’s no reason why we can’t show our support in some way.

YANBU. I am more disgusted than I can express at how the world is complicit in this medieval bullshit. I would really like to see the Muslim world unite in condemnation of the Taliban, supported by every decent human of every creed and none.

Muslim men will only listen to Muslim men. Where is the outrage about what is happening to their Muslim sisters in Afghanistan? The silence is a pretty damning indictment.

@LlynTegid I stand corrected in that the debates and concerns around playing/withdrawing related to the immorality of Mugabe’s terror regime, and a threat to our team from within Zimbabwe.

I guess this cricket tournament is another example of how politics/human rights and sports are intertwined.

There are many places with customs, laws and behaviours which aren't compatible with ours. If our government has not seen fit to declare that the issues are so severe as to require our involvement then I just don't think its the place of a sports team to start picking and choosing who they will or won't play against.

Here's their Twitter page https://x.com/ICC

Tell them how you feel