The England men’s cricket team will take on Afghanistan on February 26 in the group stage of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy.
However, women’s rights campaigners have called on England to forfeit the match in protest at ongoing human rights abuses in Afghanistan. The Women’s Rights Network (WRN) issued a statement on Monday, calling for not only the forfeiture of February’s championship game, but also any sporting competition against an Afghanistan national team.
“The Women’s Rights Network is calling for England to lose the match. In fact, we are calling on our politicians and sports governing bodies to go further. We ask: [UK Prime Minister] Keir Starmer to order a boycott of all Afghanistan matches in any sport, the [England Cricket Team] lose every match against the Afghanistan men’s cricket team in any tournament, players and coaches must examine their consciences: the women in their families are free to dress as they want, receive education, take jobs, travel, have bank accounts, speak and sing. . “How can you, in good conscience, interpret a country that denies women their basic human rights?” the group wrote.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses members of the Labor Party Conference in Liverpool, England, on Tuesday. (AP)
“Pride in the team jersey includes pride in your country’s record defending human rights and against dictators who enjoy the prestige of sporting success. What is happening to the women of Afghanistan is appalling. Any athlete “I should conscientiously do the right thing: Boycott Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan has been under Taliban control since August 2021, after President Biden ordered the withdrawal of the US military. The withdrawal led to the deaths of 13 US service members and the almost immediate takeover of the country’s capital, Kabul, by Taliban forces. Another 45 American soldiers were wounded and more than 170 Afghan civilians were also killed.
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Following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on August 15, 2021, the country’s economy “basically collapsed,” according to the UNDP, largely because international funding through government donor schemes, such as the Trust Fund, was shut down. for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s takeover has resulted in particularly egregious treatment of women in the country.
Under Sharia law, women cannot move in public space unless they are in the company of a male relative. In general, they are only allowed to leave the house for urgent matters and must wear a full veil if they do so.
In August, the Taliban rulers issued a ban on women’s bare voices and faces in public under new laws passed by the supreme leader in an effort to combat vice and promote virtue.
Women are required to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim men and women to avoid being corrupted. A woman’s voice is considered intimate and therefore should not be heard singing, reciting or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men to whom they are not related by blood or marriage and vice versa.
Naveen-ul-Haq of Afghanistan celebrates with his teammates after a dismissal during the second T20 international cricket match between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on December 13, 2024. (Jekesai NJIKIZANA/AFP)
Women in Afghanistan have also been banned from attending secondary school and, as of 2022, have been banned from studying at all. There are some courses available for women through online teaching, but female students are not allowed to take exams.
In July, a United Nations report He said the ministry was contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans through edicts and the methods used to enforce them.
“Given the many issues outlined in the report, the position expressed by the de facto authorities that this monitoring will increase and expand is of great concern to all Afghans, especially women and girls,” said Fiona Frazer, director of the Department of Human Rights. human rights service in the UN mission in Afghanistan.
The Taliban rejected the UN report.
