The Canvas

If there is anyone out there that has the slightest sense of good governance and the basic concept of ‘freedom of living one’s life’ then there is no doubt that they will hate to see Taleban take over any part of this world, again.

Like an agitated wasp, Taleban are destined to hit back at their enemies hard if they some how gain any sort of ground in the current situation.

I happened to be observing a street-talk-like discussion on BusinessPlus where a guy called Lucman, on the show Lucman Dot Com (hats off for originality) was trying to justify what happened to Pakistani footballers 7 years ago in the Taleban ruled Afghanistan was right! This guy should be banned for his unruly attempt at having a discussion and he is always right when he speaks. The BBC news report that I linked has this to say:

A Pakistani football team that went to play some matches in the Afghan city of Kandahar has returned home after being arrested for wearing shorts. The Taleban authorities said the wearing of shorts during a match violated the Islamic dress code. The players were not only arrested, but also had their heads shaved as punishment. The Pakistani team, from the border town of Chaman, had gone to Kandahar for a series of friendly matches. [1]

And,

The Taleban have frequently been criticised by Western governments and non-governmental organisations for enforcing strict rules on what women must wear. They have been criticised in particular for the requirement that women cover their heads and faces. [2]

The team is pictured on the right – some of them might be smiling but the situation was anything but funny.

Breaking down the paragraph [1], first of all, the Islamic dress code allow a man to wear shorts that cover a major region of the thighs near the groin, and cover the waist. So the Taleban were totally wrong in interpreting what Islam allows and disallows, which scares me for the fact that just because they say something is wrong does not make it wrong! I might not be able to do things in life just because ‘they think it’s wrong,’ or I have to ‘do it their way’. BS! Secondly, Pakistan Team is a signatory to the FIFA federation and all it’s applicable rules. FIFA disallows wearing anything that his longer than the knees, meaning trousers, track suit trousers etc. are not allowed. Clothing like that may hinder or abet a player’s skills during a game and might give him an unfair advantage or disadvantage. Asking the Pakistani Team to play against the FIFA rules is asking them to break the pledge they made with FIFA to be allowed to play internationally in the first place is dumb. Pakistan is a team that could use all the experience it could get on international turf with normal rules to get the players the feel of playing more officially officiated matches. Asking the world to change to your liking when already the entire world is against you, is asking a bit too much.

This is how our previous neighbors dealt with matters. I wonder if the poor soul even got a fair trial for herself, seeing from the burqa she’s wearing; it is quite possible that she couldn’t have. In the picture on the left, a man holds an AK-47 to a woman’s head in an open field for an barbaric medieval style ‘public execution’.

Mr. Lucman, the show host went on to say that it was already announced that the matches will be played in a certain dress-code. No where that I read was this announced before hand. Secondly, again, why should the Pakistani Team play against any rules it has promised to follow? Were the Taleban a member of the AFC of FIFA? Even if they were, they were determinded to do things their way. He [Lucman] also said that it was the head-ache of the Pakistani Team and Management to find out what the Taleban like and dislike before playing the match, and that he would do the same if someone came to his conservative house ‘as a guest’ wearing shorts. Rather he suggested that he would ‘break his legs’ in return.

No! This is not Islam. The word Islam means Peace. And by ‘breaking someone’s legs’ what spirit of Islam are we thinking of maintaining? Many a traditions can be found in the Islamic scripture where the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself let calm take over the situation and refrain from aggression even when the people who hated him dined with him. He was the kindest of persons on the earth and we should learn from him. Breaking legs is not the way we send our guests off, don’t know what interpretation of Islam Lucman is following.

Moving to the [2] paragraph. Which was,

The Taleban have frequently been criticised by Western governments and non-governmental organisations for enforcing strict rules on what women must wear. They have been criticised in particular for the requirement that women cover their heads and faces. [2]

The first line reiterates what I already said about their global popularity and mass appeal. No where in Islam does it enforce man over woman, and no where does it say that the face [of a woman] has to be covered. Enforcing these rules is against Islam itself and the basic Islamic spirit. On the left is a picture of the idea of a veil in South Asia and Afghanistan.

I am sorry, but this article has been sitting in my draft’s box for a while and I wanted it out there for a long time. I haven’t really re-edited to make it better and I couldn’t include Quranic references … may be I’ll do that in a later post. The pictures shall help you get a fair bit of idea on some of the points. Gotta go, gotta write some more now, adieu.