THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

THE KITE RUNNER
KABUL
The infi ghting between the factions
was fi erce and no one knew if they
would live to see the end of the day.
Our ears became accustomed to the
rumble of gunfi re, our eyes familiar
with the sight of men digging bodies
out of piles of rubble. Kabul in those
days ...was as close as you could get
to that proverbial hell on earth.
– Rahim Khan, The Kite Runner
The attacks of September 11, 2001 would once again
directly draw the United States back into Afghanistan,
as it was widely reported that the Taliban was providing
safe haven to Osama bin Ladin. In October 2001, the
United States invaded Afghanistan, forcing the Taliban
to flee Kabul. The city was put under the security of the
Afghan National Police, and the authority of US-backed
interim president Hamid Karzai. Kabul is once again
the capital of Afghanistan. However, the conservative
influence of hardline Taliban rule has left its mark on
Kabul; for instance, although women can travel more
freely in Kabul than in other regions of Afghanistan,
most women still wear Islamic garb for both religious
and security reasons.
Symbols of Islamic faith such as the hijab
(head covering) can be found throughout
this majority-Muslim city. However, Kabul’s
population is diverse, comprised primarily
of Sunni ethnic Tajiks, with sizable groups
of Shiite ethnic Hazaras and Sunni ethnic
Pashtuns. Afghan Sikhs and Afghan Hindus
are also represented here. The city’s climate
is moderate, with a mild autumn and
summer, but a harsh, snowy winter lasting
from December to March. The air quality
is terrible; traffic pollution, widespread
use of electric generators and continual
atmospheric dust mix to create what locals
call the “Kabul Cough.” The city is primarily
made up of narrow, winding streets. Bazaars
(or marketplaces) dot the city and have
made a comeback since the American
invasion of 2001 brought increased
security to Kabul’s neighborhoods. Foreign
The population of Kabul has perhaps been
singled out as needing particular corrective
action. The Taliban have their power based in
the rural areas and in the more conservative
south of Afghanistan and have viewed
Kabul as a center of liberalism, at best, and
decadence, at worst. It is also seen as the
source of both the socialist and Islamist
movements which, they feel, have brought
ruin on Afghanistan, and is believed to have
been tainted by the secular attitudes brought
in by Soviet advisers. Part of the Taliban’s
mission to cleanse is aimed at ensuring
that the population of Kabul abandons all
vestiges of alien cultures and ideologies.
However, since the more liberal and affl uent
elements of Kabul society left during the
period of Soviet occupation or following
the establishment of the Mujahideen
government, the Taliban are seeking
to impose their vision on the relatively
uneducated and impoverished population
that remains.
The Taliban in Kabul
(From The Taliban: War, Religion and the New
Order in Afghanistan by Peter Marsden, 1998)
An Afghan bazaar populated by American soldiers
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 12