From: "julian samuel" <jjsamuel-AT-vif.com> Subject: Compare this Canadian journalist with Robert Fisk' coverage of Palestine Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 21:52:38 -0700 Compare this Canadian journalist with Robert Fisk' coverage of Palestine: PRINT EDITION When it's polo day, the war can wait GEOFFREY YORK visits holy warriors who play hard, and finds out why a key rebel offensive fell apart By GEOFFREY YORK, The Globe and Mail Wednesday, October 24, 2001 Mujahedeen thunder along a cornfield near Kabul yesterday during a game of buzkashi, which is said to date from the time of Genghis Khan. Photo: Geoffrey York/The Globe and Mail GULBAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- The crowds began gathering early in the morning in a vast field. They stood on flatbed trucks, sat on the edge of irrigation canals or climbed trees for a better view. Then the horsemen arrived -- two dozen magnificent steeds and their fierce riders. The warriors were taking a break from war. In a chaotic Afghan version of polo, they mounted their horses yesterday and stampeded across the dusty cornfield in pursuit of the carcass of a calf. They were only a few kilometres from the front lines near Kabul, where rockets and tank shells slam into the hills and desert every day. Far overhead, U.S. warplanes were streaking toward Taliban targets. But for the thousands of Afghans engrossed in a traditional game of buzkashi, the war could wait. The horsemen were mujahedeen, the holy warriors of the opposition Northern Alliance. They didn't seem too concerned about missing a day of fighting. The leisure of equestrian sports is another sign that the opposition still has no plans to mobilize for a major land offensive, despite constant U.S. bombing of the Taliban front lines. Buzkashi, a favourite sport in horse cultures across Central Asia, is said to have originated in the days of Genghis Khan, when legend says the game was first played with human corpses. Today the warriors usually fight for possession of a dead goat, sheep or calf. The organizers had killed the calf a day earlier. They chopped it in half to make it the right size and shape, leaving two legs so that the horsemen could grab onto it. Afghans still ride horses in some of their battles in this latest civil war, and they say buzkashi is an ideal sport for warriors. "It helps us find and keep good horses, which are good for fighting," an organizer boasted yesterday. The riders and their horses formed teams of six or seven, with green or white armbands to distinguish them. It was the first time they had played buzkashi since the 40-day mourning period that followed the assassination of opposition leader Ahmed Shah Masood. An organizer began by calling the horsemen forward, reviewing the rules, and urging the warriors to refrain from charging off the cornfield and knocking over the spectators, especially since there were foreign guests (journalists) in the crowd. There was a short prayer, and they were off, racing toward the dead calf. The horsemen battled ferociously, struggling for possession of the calf in rugby-like scrums, then breaking loose in thunderous gallops around the field, whipping their horses and kicking up huge clouds of dust. The game seemed to feature all of the violence and aggression of the conflicts that have torn apart the feuding tribes and clans of Afghanistan for years. The object of the game was to reach down from the saddle, seize the calf, carry it around the field in a burst of speed, reaching a green-and-white flag and then returning to the other end of the field, where players had to deposit the calf in a hole in the ground. Their teammates helped by blocking the other horses. Most of the horsemen were young, but one was a grizzled old man and another was a small boy of about 12 who could not reach the calf when he leaned over his saddle. An announcer with a bullhorn excitedly described the action, shouting the names of the horsemen. "Excellent, very good," he exhorted. "Go, go!" When a horseman scored a goal, he raced around the field with his hand in the air in a frenetic victory lap. The crowd cheered wildly, and officials brought a stack of Afghan bank notes (worth about $2 or $3) to the goal scorer. There were no hot-dog vendors, but children circulated through the crowd with plates of fresh, unpeeled potatoes and bowls of salt to dip them in. Women were barred from the crowd. Security men whacked the spectators with sticks to keep them off the cornfield. But often the horses stampeded toward the crowd, forcing everyone to scatter. Men waved blankets frantically at horses that veered toward the audience. Spectators cheered and laughed whenever others were forced to flee from charging horses. The dead calf, which was almost torn apart, became increasingly slippery as the game wore on. When they grabbed it, the horsemen held it tightly with their hands and legs, while clutching a whip in their teeth. The game ended with the spectators happy and satisfied. They had witnessed a bold and daring display of horsemanship, and nobody had been killed. --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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