The Ongoing Shame at the Heart of Islam?

‘Batchas,’ the dancing boys of Afghanistan.

It is irrelevant that their forbearers may had danced for Alexander the Great, the cult of ‘bacha bazi’– or boy play,’ is still illegal, yet tolerated, by large swathes of the Muslin community in Asia. Particularly prevalent in Afghanistan it is as close to organised paedophilia as one can put a name to.

Afghanistan is an impenetrable, mountainous country, a tribal country, ruled not by centralized government by conflicting tribes, and powerful war lords, where violence is only an unwary word away. No matter the100’s of years that the West has intervened in the antecedent struggles, neither the aforementioned Alexander, the British, Russians, nor American armies, have managed to quell the warring factions that control the country. And the cult of the batchas has always been there, mentioned in glowing terms by many early travellers to the region, and deemed almost acceptable in a society structure that forbids public displays of any kind by females.

In this constant state of instability the tribal commander’s, or some of them at least, have one prominent flaw, that goes totally against their religious beliefs and hard-man personas; a liking for young boys. It goes hand in hand with abduction and male rape, which appears to be accepted as a perk of their leadership. Like FGM – Female Genital Mutilation – it appears to be sanctioned by the continuing silence of those in the upper strata’s of society. For years no religious or political leaders have made any comment, no Mullah’s, Imam’s or Government official has raised the matter, either in the Mosque or on the floor of parliament; it is quiet, silent and accepted.

It is now a regular occurrence in all regions of the country that attractive boys, some as young as 10, are kidnapped from their families and forced to endure years of abuse at the hands of these powerful men. When they reach the other side of puberty say 16 or 17 they are released from captivity, to be replaced by a younger version of themselves. But where do they go, normal society and especially their families – in most cases – shun them, as by their treatment they have become feminized outcasts. This is where ‘bacha bazi, boy – play,’ comes into focus.

For paying customers they wear female clothes, make-up and bells on fingers and toes and become, ‘dancing-boys,’ a simple name for further exploitation and further sexual abuse. Escaping injustice they are taken under the wing of a kindly Uncle, a pimp who, once the dancing has stopped will sell their body for the rest of the evening to the highest bidder. This of course is not viewed as ‘homosexuality,’ with a biddable wife or wives waiting indoors; this is pure and simple dominance of the weak. With primitive psychological support, no self-help framework, little family help and the near illiterate state of the boys them-selves, escape from one dire situation simply forces them it another one, which becomes one step away from the really terrifying one; street corner prostitution.

Lately though, because of the growing number of cases the Afghan Government has been forced to act and implement legislation to curb bacha bazi, but without a date when this flexi-law will be implemented it is unclear if any boy anywhere in the country will ever feel safe again.

It is an intriguing thought that that in recent years in the UK there have been very few prosecutions for FGM, the authorities no doubt afraid of the taint of cultural interference. Although who is to say that in those male only parties held amongst the densely populated Muslim areas of British cities night after night that the cult of bacha bazi does not go on?