Afghan Cricket - watch trophy unveiling

[mb2512cat]

If there are any remaining doubts about how much Afghan men must enjoy hating women, watch this video. Just think what they are doing to their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters and then watch this. They have a sense of humour alright, and it’s breathtaking in its audacity. And not a single cricket team is boycotting playing them.

https://x.com/acbofficials/status/1832765832612520344?s=46&t=WBUCdrv9BwgG-lsI3-uNuQ

I am an Afghan woman so a bit of unique perspective i guess. So to solve the problem of the marginalisation of women, you want to take away the only joy many women have by having other teams boycott them? Cricket is as important as football in this country.The men of Afghanistan dont hate women, its the taliban. Big difference. Remember under Taliban rule its also horrible for ordinary men.

Also, whats wrong with the video?

A boycott on playing Afghanistan's cricket team is one way of showing criticism of the Taliban's treatment of women. It could be the start of more censure and pressure on the regime.

I would think that if the men of Afghanistan love the women of their country they would put up more of a fight (literally and vocally) for female rights. In Iran, both men and women publicly protest for women's freedoms and protest against religious restrictions. Why don't Afghan men go into the streets to object to the awful treatment of women?

Unfortunately that scenario is unlikely to happened. Most likely the Taliban would shrug their shoulders, say 'oh well' and do nothing. And women would be worse off.

Afghanistan and iran are two very different places with two very different regimes. Most likely protests would lead to death or prison and their wives would end up homeless without a man whos working. Oppression against women in Afghanistan is an inherent problem and society has been set up so that so matter what , they lose.

I can see what you mean about inherent oppression of women: this song by Sonita Alizadeh about treatment of Afghan women by their men is heartbreaking:

Are the Taliban as entrenched a regime as the Iranian religious government? I understand that people fear the Taliban but the Taliban don’t have the resources of a nation state like Iran, such as a standing military and air force; couldn’t other Afghan groups who want freedom from Taliban rule/religious oppression fight to dislodge them?

The problem is Taliban have more resources than other groups. There is resistance though and the regime is simply unsustainable in modern times. I dont see them lasting more than about 10 years more. But the question is will the next guys be better or worse?

I understand what you mean when you say the next government might not be any better; in my country, during the war of independence lots of different groups (with different political views and objectives) fought together to achieve the goal of freedom. This included women who wanted equal rights and liberty for women. When independence was won, the new State was formed by conservative, sexist and religiously inclined men and, in combination with the Church, successive governments went on to treat women and girls as second class citizens for decades. When I was growing up, sixty years later, things had improved somewhat from what they had been, but I never forgot the horrible stories told by my grandmother and other older women.

I, along with you, also hope that the Taliban regime can't last and that international pressure (and even aid to those who disagree with the Taliban) will be successful. It's a stain on the conscience of all free nations to allow Afghan women to be treated as less than human.

Actually Australia refuse to play Afghanistan unless it’s in an actual tournament , they won’t play them on a normal tour cycle and all other nations should be following their lead . I watch a lot of cricket and I’d be in favour of a complete ban .

Yes, Floral, when my DH mentioned that information to me about Australia's cricket team it was heartening to hear. Then, today, I saw pictures of the New Zealand cricket team entertaining the Afghanistan players and was disheartened by that.

A consistent response is needed but my DH (who is cricket mad) has advised me that the ICC are very slow to take steps like bans/boycotts. He told me that even boycotting South Africa during the apartheid regime took a long time for the ICC to agree to.

Have you seen the pictures of the NZ team trying on Afghan turbans? @PinkChaires sorry if that is the wrong word, it was the only word I could think of.

All laughing and joking.

Have you seen the pictures of the NZ team trying on Afghan turbans?

No repeat of the Springbok Tour protests sadly. It's only women after all.

@UtopiaPlanitia
couldn’t other Afghan groups who want freedom from Taliban rule/religious oppression fight to dislodge them?

Once a dictatorship gets a grip it’s easier said than done. Look how long Stalin and his successors stayed in power and there’s no sign that the Chinese regime will become a democracy any time soon.

You make a good point Barbados, I suppose I was hoping that unlike those regimes the Taliban were not as entrenched and didn’t have the military and bureaucratic systems of control of established nation states.

I heard it was against the rules for a country to play cricket whilst banning the women's team. They should of course be banned and treated like pariahs. It just goes to show how marginalised women are that Afghanistan are acceptable in the world community.

It is . The ICC are happy to bend their own rules . It needs the ECB and the BCCI to go with the Australians and refuse to play as that would then be the three big cricket associations and the ICC might listen . People need to put pressure on the govt for them to put pressure on the ECB . I think the Afghan men’s team think they are ok because they play under the old Afghan flag not the taliban flag and also play their ‘home ‘ games in the UAE so they feel that distances them from the regime .

Is the Taliban not comprised of Afghani men? I’ve read various accounts of how the Taliban managed to take control of Afghanistan so seamlessly when the American’s etc. withdrew but it’s quite hard to understand the politics of that region.

But if kier starmer and the labour party started to create laws oppressing women, would you say that all british men hate women?

Well that is very unlikely to happen and if it did I would expect people to be out protesting , both men and women . Either way , there is a limited amount that any nation can do to show the Afghan regime that we don’t approve and not playing cricket is one of them .

Well that is very unlikely to happen and if it did I would expect people to be out protesting , both men and women.

That is true, but I imagine the consequences for protesting in Afghanistan are severe.
Why aren’t people protesting against the regime in Cuba? Some tried and many haven’t been seen since.

I believe there should be heavy sanctions against Afghanistan and a whole lot more public condemnation of the Taliban. They are treating women as less than human. You can’t oppress and enslave half of your people and then expect to be welcome on a world sporting stage, or anywhere else really. Just no. Stop the slavery and oppression of women first, lads, and then maybe we can chat about cricket.

As the old saying goes, all it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. Maybe the Afghani cricketers are too afraid to rattle the cages of their Taliban overlords, but the ICC should be taking a moral stand.

Huh, would you look at that..

New Zealand's one-off Test match against Afghanistan has been washed out without a single ball bowled across the five days.

The match in the Indian city of Greater Noida became just the eighth men's Test in history to be abandoned without any play.

It is also the first time a men's Test in India has been completely washed out.