Video: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan
When I was working at the Islamic school as a librarian, I came to know two teachers who are from Afghanistan. Before getting to know them better, I did not know much about Afghanistan's people's history. All praise be to Allah SWT, they tried to take time to tell me about their lives in their home country and I am thankful that I have the opportunity to know them.
PBS will be screening a documentary about the horrific experience that many Afghanistan youth are living in the war torn country. I hope that through this film more people will be aware of the injustice and suffering of the Afghanistan people.
FRONTLINE: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan
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.
Watch the video here.
PBS will be screening a documentary about the horrific experience that many Afghanistan youth are living in the war torn country. I hope that through this film more people will be aware of the injustice and suffering of the Afghanistan people.
FRONTLINE: The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan
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.
Watch the video here.
Labels: personal
posted by Jiru at
10:54 AM
