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In Afghanistan today, in the midst of war and endemic poverty, an ancient tradition--banned when the Taliban were in power--has re-emerged across the country. It's called Bacha Bazi, translated literally as "boy play." Hundreds of boys, some as young as eleven, street orphans or boys bought from poor families by former warlords and powerful businessmen, are dressed in woman's clothes, taught to sing and dance for the entertainment of male audiences, and then sold to the highest bidder or traded among the men for sex.
With remarkable access inside a Bacha Bazi ring operating in Northern Afghanistan, Najibullah Quraishi, an Afghan journalist, investigates this practice, still illegal under Afghan law, talking with the boys, their families, and their masters, exposing the sexual abuse and even murders of the boys, and documenting how Afghan authorities responsible for stopping these crimes are sometimes themselves complicit in the practice.
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The first time I found out about these Afghan boys was when I was watching the film THE HORSE MEN(produced 1970) a few months ago, which starred famous Egyptian actor Omar Sharif. It's very hard to ignore a scene with a young man dressed in woman's clothing and dancing in public, when one watches old classics. I often watch such oldies to get away from the rubbish and decadence of a lot of modern films. In any case, I thought it was just my imagination concerning the dancing boy of the film above, and so thank goodness for the REWIND and FORWARD capabilities of DVD and VCR players these days
It is sad that there's a lot of evil that had taken root in many 'islamic'(??) countries, and then for a lot of the perpetrators to turn around and present themselves as good and solid Muslim citizens in front of the public. How could this be any different to abuses(especially sexual abuse) committed by so-called 'good and solid'(???) Christian citizens against their own flock?
Having said the above, the Islam I had known through personal research(eg. reading of the holy book) is actually a beautiful path to follow...if one can only steel himself from the evil of men(and sometimes, women too...eg. female circumcision) around him
Posts: 62 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2010
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