About Not Supporting
Afghan Cricket Because of Pakistan
Abdullah Qazi
June 2, 2009
In the world of Afghan sports today, there are two main things that the people of
Afghanistan can be really proud of, one is Rohullah Nikpai finally winning a
medal for Afghanistan in the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the other is the
wonderful success of the cricket team. This year the Afghan cricket team achieved ODI
(One-Day International) status when they finished in the top six of the 2011
World Cup qualifying event, and soon they will attempt to qualify for the 2010
World Twenty20 championships. In order to further the sport of cricket in
Afghanistan, the government has even agreed to the creation of a national
cricket board. One would think every Afghan would be happy with the success of
the cricket team, sadly, that is not the case.
The Afghan cricket team is mainly comprised of Afghans who grew up as
refugees in Pakistan, and as refugees in Pakistan, they learned about the sport
of cricket. Because there was no Afghan cricket team for them to join, some Afghans
had to play on the Pakistani cricket team in the past. One
even tried to switch over and play for the Afghan team in the world Cup
qualifiers, but the ICC (International Cricket Council) officials did not permit
it due to a technicality in the rules.
It is this indirect connection to Pakistan that has some Afghans
disrespecting their own cricket team. They refuse to show their support for
their country's cricket team. The dislike of anything even remotely Pakistani
stems from the fact that Pakistan created the Taliban and supported it
financially and logistically when they were oppressing and killing thousands of
Afghans, defaming Islam, and ruining the Afghan name. Before the Taliban,
Afghans were seen as friendly, brave and honorable people, and after the
Taliban, the world saw us as misogynist savages in cahoots with terrorists.
Because of all the horrific things the Taliban did to Afghanistan, anything even
remotely connected to Pakistan is seen by Afghans as an attempt to ruin or take
over Afghanistan. It was during the Taliban rule, that many Afghans openly saw an
invasion of Pakistani culture, some street signs had changed to Urdu and the
language had grown very popular in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Many of the
Taliban foot soldiers were recruited from so called Pakistani religious schools
or madrassas.
Even considering Pakistan's very un-neighborly actions, and as bad as it was
under the Taliban rule, it is wrong to project that on the Afghan cricket team.
This is illogical and unfair to the Afghan cricket team, as they were never and
are currently not involved with the Taliban. They should not be
faulted for learning how to play the sport in Pakistan while they were refugees.
The success of the cricket team does not mean that the Pakistanis are
infiltrating Afghanistan and will take it over. Cricket was not even invented in
Pakistan, and many countries around the world play the sport, such as India,
Australia, UK, Ireland, UAE (United Arab Emirates), Canada, and even the United
States has a team.
Having an indirect connection to bad memories or history should not be a
reason to not support your country's team. Take for example, Buzkashi. Buzkashi
is considered Afghanistan's national sport, and Afghans take pride in telling
others about how the sport is played. There are some historians that believe the
sport was introduced to Afghanistan by Genghis Khan's army. Genghis Khan was a
brutal conqueror who destroyed many parts of what is today modern day
Afghanistan and he murdered thousands of people. A city in central Afghanistan
was renamed from City of Hope to City of Screams after Genghis Khan's army was
finished with it. Despite the possibility that Buzkashi may have been introduced
to Afghanistan by this brutal conqueror, Afghans still love the sport dearly.
We've made Buzkashi our sport now - our national sport, and we support it.
Even if some Afghans don't care for cricket in general or for sports
altogether, they should not allow that to interfere with celebrating another
group of Afghans' success. They should be happy for the national team's success
and celebrate the fact that Afghans are now succeeding in all sorts of fields.
The people of Afghanistan have been through a lot, so now its time we celebrate the few
good things we do have going right for us. This new spirit will only unify us and make us a
stronger country. Let's root for our cricket team to beat the Pakistani team -
talk about great irony! It will give those still angry with Pakistan a
better venue for expressing their emotions, and it supports the cricket team as
well. Afghans unite!
Abdullah Qazi is the founder and publisher of
Afghanistan Online. He can be
reached at qazi28@yahoo.com.
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