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The Challenges to Nation-Building
in Afghanistan
continues...
There was hardly any disagreement that the Taleban rule hindered the
development of popular culture in Afghanistan, in terms of both traditional Afghan practices (folk culture, music) as also the modern variants (films, music, sports). The Taleban imposed a series of restrictions and bans on socio-cultural life of the Afghan people. They either prohibited or controlled most of the popular cultural activities like television, internet, movies, music, or sports. Media reconstruction, revival of popular culture and sporting traditions remained major
challenges. Initiatives are needed to reconstruct important public
buildings and to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage and heritage sites
which are under threat.
Since sports is an arena for the assertion of national identity and empowerment. Women’s sports can be a means of their emancipation and empowerment. The revival of sporting traditions is a major social challenge. Afghanistan under Taleban rule had to face sanctions from global sports bodies like the International Olympic Council. There was also a strict prohibition on women’s participation in or watching of sport.
The socio-cultural scenario after 2001 began to change as most of the
orthodox restrictions, especially those on women were gradually removed
while the international ban on Afghanistan’s participation was also lifted.
This provided a booster for a renewal of interests in modern sports like
football, cricket, judo or athletics among both men and women. Yet, one must not exaggerate the extent to which forms of popular culture like television, films, music or sports play a role in the process of
women’s empowerment. As Dan Rath, argues, ‘The recent development
of women sports owing to increasing participation of women in sports
helps break the shackles of societal and cultural restrictions imposed on
women. However, it must be
noted that women’s access to sporting activities is limited to certain urban
pockets of the country. In other regions where the control of the central
government does not seem to be too strong, and regional leaderships or
powers seem to have a large sway over the situation, women do not really
enjoy such freer access to sports or other forms of popular culture.
To be continued......