The Islamic Clergy in Kandahar is Pushing for a Crash Course in Wall Building.

                                                             Wall Flowers
                                                        


Few walls are still standing in Afghanistan.  War, which has caused such
misery in this impoverished nation, is not the primary reason for a
wall-less nation.

Under the fanatical Taliban regime anyone found guilty--the conviction rate
was 100%--of petty theft, adultery, blasphemy, and another one-hundred
eighty seven crimes would face death by wall. That is, a tank or truck
would push a wall over on the accused. If this didn’t do the job, onlookers
would stone the guilty party to death. 

This punishment was originally reserved for homosexuals but, because the
method was so effective and such a crowd-pleaser, it became the standard
Taliban punishment. The Kabul soccer stadium donated by the West was the
site of many executions. Masons could not build walls fast enough to keep
pace with the condemned. The masons were forced to adopt quick drying
cement to avoid the wrath of the Taliban (Not building walls fast enough
was also a crime punishable by death).

One of the greatest challenges facing the US and UN is that people are so
fearful of a return of the Taliban that they openly oppose construction of
building with walls high enough to kill. On the other, hand the Islamic
clergy is insisting very high walls be built to counter what they consider
a scourge--homosexuality. And from all indications,  the masons has better
sharpen their tools because homosexuality, long accepted in this society,
is again flowering.

Home to this flowering is Kandahar, the historically gay city. The Taliban
banned men from appearing with and cultivating for sex young men called
their beloveds or “ashna.”  The Times of London reports that Kandahar’s
Pashtuns have been practicing homosexuality with young boys for centuries.
The newspaper reports that before the Taliban took over “the streets were
filled with teenagers and their sugar daddies, flaunting their
relationships.”

According the Times, such is the Pashtun obsession for young men that
“locals tell you that birds fly over the city using only one wing, the
other covering their posterior.” Though not widely reported, the rape of
young men by warlords figured in Mullah Omar mobilizing the Taliban in
1994. Two warlords killed many civilians when squabbling over a male lover.
Omar’s men freed the youth and earned the respect of the community.

The sugar daddies are back and there are more than enough willing teenagers
in this impoverished country. The reward can be great. An “ashna” can
receive as gifts hashish, motorbike, and a fighting pigeon. 

With the re-opening of tea shops, cinema, and a sports stadiums in
Kandahar, the sugar daddies have many opportunities to find young men who
frequently use the association as a way out of poverty. And with all
thousands of  young men returning from the war, there are plenty to choose
from. The heavily-bearded Pashtun have a preference for clean-shaven boys,
15 or 16 years old.  

Pashtun tribal leaders point to the long literary history in which “ashans”
are praised for their beauty and perfect complexion.

And they argue that “adopting” a boy is a much more civilized act than
sending him off to war.

Not all parties are so sanguine. The Catholic Church, traditionally a
generous provider of aid and aid workers to Kandahar, has suspended the
effort until it can be sure aid is not going to the gay community.

Pashtuns joke that perhaps the Archbishop of Boston should oversee the
effort.