Afghan flag makes Indian hearts flutter

Afghanistan on Sunday returned to the Asian Games after being banned from international sports ever since the Taliban took over the country....

Afghanistan on Sunday returned to the Asian Games after being banned from international sports ever since the Taliban took over the country. The Afghan contingent marched at the opening ceremony of the 14th Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea, of course, without the ubiquitous kalashnikovs.

Watching them keenly on TV screens were Indians, remembering the sporting links between the two countries which are in for a revival. In fact, the address of Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee reads C/O Indian Olympic Committee at Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. The president of the Afghanistan Olympic Committee is a close friend of secretary general of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Randhir Singh.

And there has been at least one Indian martyr to the cause of sports in Afghanistan. NIS hockey coach Chain Singh was killed by militants while coaching young players in Kabul in the 70s.

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A brutal past has dimmed memories of Afghanistan’s very old tradition of Olympic participation. They first took part in Hitler’s Berlin Games in 1936. Mohammed Khan had finished sixth in the 100-metres heats while Ali Zaid finished at the same spot in 200 metres. Later, Afghan athletes also went to the Rome Olympics and finally to Atlanta in 1996 before they were thrown out of the Olympics.

Coming from a terrain of rugged mountains, the Afghans naturally loved contact sports like wrestling and boxing. But Taliban sports minister Mawlawi Qalamuddin imposed a ban on boxing, arguing that it could cause mental and physical trouble for athletes. The Taliban also asked players to keep their beards untrimmed, wear long pants and interrupt matches for prayers. Also, women were barred from sports.

The present contingent that carries Afghan hopes on its shoulders has soccer players (20), a taekwondo team (8), wrestlers (8), boxers (7), cyclists (2) and one karate player. And three members of the taekwondo team are women.

Much before the advent of the Taliban, Indian football and hockey teams used to take part in the Jashan celebrations.

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Recalls Delhi’s veteran player and hockey administrator K G Kakkar: ‘‘The first time I went to Afghanistan was in 1949 when hockey wizard Dhyan Chand was leading the side. We were travelling by train to Lahore on way to Peshawar where we had to play a match. But we reached the venue four hours late, simply because at every remote station thousands of people would turn up to catch a glimpse of Dhyan Chand.

“Even King Zahir Shah invited us over and shook hands with Dhyan Chand. The Afghans were really sport-loving people and I am glad that they are back in the Asian Games,’’ the 83-year-old Kakkar told The Indian Express.

According to Shiv Kumar Verma, another hockey administrator, ‘‘the Afghans were very fond of sports and music. In fact, ghazal king Talat Mehmood and Punjabi vocalist Surinder Kaur also accompanied us and were great hits.’’

Verma is happy that Afghanistan is back at the Asian Games in which they first participated at Manila in the Phillipines way back

in 1954.