By: Ziba Balkhi
The Taliban regime snatched the last ray of hope from the wheelchair basketball players. A group of young aspiring women wheelchair athletes in the Balkh province, Afghanistan were barred from playing basketball since the Taliban came into power. An anonymous source confirmed that the Taliban conveyed their message through a letter. Unfortunately, as a result, all official training for participating in competitions has come to a halt.
. The Balkh province’s wheelchair basketball team has 25 young aspiring female members who have been routinely exercising, training, and participating in national and international basketball games. Prior to the Taliban regime, they were regularly exercising and training at least three days a week.
Dr. Farida Aagah, the co-founder of the women’s wheelchair basketball team and a certified physiotherapist, shared that the majority of women who are part of the wheelchair basketball team are paralyzed from the waist down.
Dr. Aagah, who has closely worked with women wheelchair basketball athletes, confirmed that their official sports activities have been curtailed. She shared that “Playing basketball is essential for disabled individuals to strengthen their upper body muscles and respiratory system. Most of the Balkh wheelchair athletes have a medical history of respiratory issues. It is the result of regular exercises that their muscles got strengthened over time.” She further explained, “They should do their exercise for at least an hour or more on a daily basis. So, they do not have to face breathing problems or muscle weaknesses.”
The wheelchair team includes young aspiring women who despite their disabilities have not given up fighting for bringing normality into their life. One teammate has congenital disabilities in both legs, yet has been part of the team for the past three years. Another teammate who broke her back at the age of 14 due to an accidental fall, has the warrior spirit. According to her, as society perceives women with physical disabilities as weak individuals, thus, playing basketball in a wheelchair for her, is a way to fight societal mindset and break social taboos. The team also includes members who have been part of the team since its inception and have been part of the Afghanistan National team as well. It includes celebrated players who have been the pride of Afghanistan as they have earned the best athlete title several times for the women’s wheelchair basketball team. Before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, these players had the opportunity of travelling to represent Afghanistan in foreign competitions, a number of times.
These opportunities have been a ray of hope for them. Playing basketball was essential for their health and treatment. It also gave them a purpose, a reason for living, and fighting for making space for themselves in this patriarchal society. Currently, all of them are quite demotivated and dissatisfied with the entire situation. Given the restriction placed they are able to practice secretly once a week only if they ever get a chance.
One of them exclaimed “I was very upset, my world was darkened,” she continued, “We trained so hard, however, in the end, our efforts went in vain. We were not allowed to train and participate anymore. They told us there is no competition, neither provincial nor anywhere else. On the contrary, the boys can play without any problem.”
In a country like Afghanistan, given the economic, political, cultural, and resource constraints, life isn’t a bed of roses for anyone. However, if you are a woman with a disability, life becomes even more challenging for you. To that end, the wheelchair basketball team is offering hope to these young women. The Taliban have conveniently and unfairly snatched this hope away from them.
One of the wheelchair athletes expressed “In current times, disabled women are facing a number of problems in our society. They cannot work outside. All our activities have been stopped.” She further went on to state, “I know many disabled girls who are unable to retain the same level of spirit they had prior to the current government regime. I have been very depressed since the beginning of it. Many other disabled women have lost their motivation to live as well.”
According to the data collected during previous government in Afghanistan, nearly ten thousand people with physical disabilities live in the Balkh province. Out of these, every fifth individual is a woman. Officials in the directorate of physical education of the Balkh Province stated that out of 150 registered disabled athletes in the paralympic games and physical education, at least 50 were women athletes. This implies that the issue of the unfair ban on women wheelchair athletes might seem small for now, but it will eventually impact other aspiring disabled women of Afghanistan as well.
In a country where internal and external players have created socio-economic and political chaos, these young ladies despite their disabilities were finding a space of their own in the society with wheelchair basketball. In their own words, the world has now become dark again for them.
