- Title: Traditional "goat pulling" sport outlasts Afghan wars, politics
- Date: 8th April 2017
- Summary: KHINJ DISTRICT, PANJSHER, AFGHANISTAN (APRIL 7, 2017) (REUTERS) AFGHAN HORSEMEN GATHERED FOR A BUZKASHI (GOAT PULLING) GAME AT AN OPEN GROUND IN KHINJ DISTRICT OF PANJSHIR PROVINCE HORSEMEN WAITING FOR THE GAME TO BE START VARIOUS OF AFGHAN HORSEMEN PLAYING BUZKASHI (GOAT PULLING) GAME GAME ONGOING AT MOUNTAIN SIDE (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHAN HORSEMAN, MOHAMMAD HAFIZ, SAYING: "If we fall down on the ground or get hurt while playing the game, it doesn't mean that we are angry with each other. This is just the rule of the game. This sport is a traditional sport among our people." HORSEMEN PLAYING BUZKASHI / PULLING CALF CARCASS CALF CARCASS ON THE GROUND SPECTATORS WATCHING THE GAME HORSEMAN PLAYING GAME (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHAN HORSEMAN, AYNULLAH KHAN, SAYING: "We urge the government to provide us a proper ground because we usually play this Buzkashi game and need to have a proper and standard ground for it." VARIOUS OF HORSEMAN PLAYING BUZKASHI GAME / JOSTLING WITH EACH OTHER MAN WATCHING BUZKASHI GAME SPECTATORS WATCHING A CROWD OF HORSEMAN ON HORSES (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) SPECTATOR AND RESIDENT OF PANJSHIR PROVINCE, ABDUL ANAAN, SAYING: "It's been almost fifty to sixty years that buzkashi matches have been happening on this site. I myself was a horseman and usually played buzkashi, and today many youth are interested in this game and playing it." SPECTATORS CLAPPING MORE OF THE BUZKASHI BEING PLAYING BY HORSEMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) SPECTATOR AND RESIDENT OF PANJSHIR PROVINCE, ABDUL ANAAN, SAYING: "Buzkashi is our national sport and as you see the crowd of people here they are gathered to enjoy watching the game. This sport is for the entertainment of our village, our people and our country." BUZKASHI GAME SPECTATORS WATCHING HORSEMEN LETTING THEIR HORSES REST VARIOUS OF THE HORSES ROLLING ON GROUND VARIOUS OF PANJSHIR PROVINCE IN BETWEEN MOUNTAINS
- Embargoed: 22nd April 2017 08:57
- Keywords: Afghanistan sport polo horse riding goat
- Location: KHINJ DISTRICT, PANJSHER, AFGHANISTAN
- City: KHINJ DISTRICT, PANJSHER, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0016BJFPZT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A crash of horses and men deep in a mountain pass signals the start of another game of buzkashi, Afghanistan's national sport.
Buzkashi, which translates roughly as "goat pulling," has been played for centuries across Central Asia and is one of the most enduring and iconic symbols of Afghanistan.
It is a sport which is often violent, but designed to showcase the riders' horsemanship and warrior spirit.
Amid foreign invasions, civil wars, and insurgent attacks, Afghans have gathered to cheer on their favorite "chapandaz," as the riders are known.
On Friday (April 7), a typical community match played out under the soaring, snow-capped peaks that surround the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul.
Rusting hulks of Russian-made tanks and guns litter the Panjshir, testifying to the years of war when famed guerilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud used the mountains to hold off first the Soviets, then the Taliban.
"It's been almost fifty to sixty years that buzkashi matches have been happening on this site," said Abdul Anaan, a spectator. "I myself was a horseman and usually played buzkashi, and today many youth are interested in this game and playing it."
The game typically involves riders on horses wrestling over half of a calf carcass, which is usually able to withstand the pounding better than goats.
Matches may involve individual players competing, or teams, often owned or sponsored by powerful warlords or other leaders.
In both cases, the goal is to carry the carcass and drop it on a target on the ground, all while dozens of other riders and horses grab, hit, kick, and struggle to tear the carcass away.
"If we fall down on the ground or get hurt it doesn't mean that we are angry with each other," said horseman Mohammed Hafiz. "This is just the rule of the game."
Horses and riders regularly career into the crowds on the sidelines, sending spectators scrambling out of the way.
Occasionally a rider would escape the crush with a bleeding gash to their head or hands, only to wrap it up and return to the game.
Some riders are calling for the government to build specific grounds for them to play the sport in a safer environment.
Buzkashi matches can attract thousands of spectators and even some times make news, as was the case when Afghanistan's First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum was accused of ordering his men to assault and abduct a political rival on the sidelines of a buzkashi game late last year.
For fans, however, the game's significance will outlast the country's current politics, just as it has outlasted previous wars.
"This sport is for the entertainment of our village, our people and our country," said Anaan. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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