THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

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THE KITE RUNNER TALIBAN The Taliban immediately put into effect a very strict version of Sharia (Islamic) law. Any activities seen as “frivolous” or influenced by the West were immediately outlawed. The Taliban believed the only way to help Afghanistan was to weed out anything that took the focus from adherence to Islam. Examples of their restrictions included outlawing television, music, the internet and even kite flying because these activities did not fit in with their hard-line We all celebrated in 1996 when the Taliban rolled in and put an end to the daily fi ghting. – Rahim Khan, The Kite Runner interpretation of Islamic law. A man without a beard could be beaten and a woman wearing fingernail polish could have her fingertips chopped off as punishment. Prior to the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan, women had been allowed to receive an education and, while modest dress was important, extreme strictures were not in place. Following the takeover of the Taliban, women’s education was outlawed and the all-covering burqa became a mandatory part of life for women when they left their homes (which was only legal if they were supervised by a male relative). Beatings, executions, stonings and ethnic and religious-based cleansing were all instituted by the Taliban in order to keep Afghanistan on a “proper religious track.” As the Taliban is comprised predominantly of ethnic Pashtun who are mostly Sunni Muslims, they particularly focused on the Shiite Hazara population for persecution. The most famous of these systematic massacres took place at Mazar-e-Sharif in 1998, but there were many other instances where the Taliban ordered the execution of ethnic Hazaras en masse. Afghan women in burqas being provided a safe haven in their country. U.S.- led coalition forces drove out the Taliban and killed many members. However, Taliban members are known for being fierce fighters, very willing to go to their deaths as “martyrs” for their cause. The Taliban forces have continued to regroup and threaten, harass and murder their fellow Afghans. Using remote lands in Pakistan as a base, the Taliban have continued to work to destabilize the elected government in Afghanistan. Suicide bombings have become much more frequent in both Afghanistan and in neighboring Pakistan. The Taliban was ousted from power following the September 11th attacks in 2001. The Taliban refused to cooperate with western countries to capture Osama bin Laden when he was Press conference with the Taliban following the September 11th attacks Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 14
THE KITE RUNNER ETHNICITIES ETHNICITIES IN AFGHANISTAN Afghanistan is comprised of over 8 different ethnic groups and with over 70 different languages. The three most populous ethnicities are Pashtun, Tajik and Hazara. Amir and his father are Pashtun, as are his father’s business associates and the children who bully Hassan and Amir. Hassan and Ali are Hazara, and work as servants as many Hazaras did during the 1970s. Pashtun The Pashtun (or Pakhthun) people are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. The Pashtuns exert a strong influence on the culture and politics Tof most of Afghanistan. They are also the largest ethnic minority in Pakistan. Pashtuns speak a distinct language called Pashto, broken into the regional dialects Kandahari Pashto and Peshawari Ali, was my father’s servant. They had been together for over forty years. If it wasn’t for the fact that my father was Pashtun and Ali was Hazara, you’d think they were brothers. – Amir, The Kite Runner Pashto. Although Pashtuns are typically referred to as a single group, there are still many tribal divisions within the Pashtun ethnicity that are still deeply felt to this day. Before the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, Pashtuns comprised about 51% of the country’s population. The invasion, however, caused a huge number of Pashtuns to flee to Pakistan, India, or the west – a full 85% of the refugees of the Soviet invasion were estimated to be Pashtun. Today, the percentage of Pashtuns in Afghanistan is about 45%. Most Afghan-Americans are of Pashtun descent due to the large migration out of Afghanistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Thomas Fiscella and Craig Piaget in The Kite Runner. Photo by Kevin Berne. In general, the Pashtun observe Islam strictly. Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims. Many Pashtun women observe purdah, meaning they wear veils and are generally secluded in their homes unless accompanied by a male family member. Rural women are most likely to follow purdah, while urban Pashtun women enjoy a relatively greater level of personal freedom. Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 15
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