VIDEO
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Maidan, August 1987
This part of the exhibition illustrates the diverse and contradictory ideologies that confronted the Afghan people during the war with the Soviets and thereafter. The Soviet-backed government in Kabul was attempting to convert Afghan people to socialism, even employing children as spies to infiltrate the ranks of the resistance. At the same time, Islamic political parties based in Pakistan and Iran sought to assert their influence as well. In schools and literacy classes, children and adults were taught to read using the rhetoric of religious struggle (jihad).
In this ideological contest, Islam was invoked in many different ways. As more and more people were killed, they were commemorated as martyrs for Islam. By this means, Afghans were able to make sense of the seemingly senseless loss wrought by war. The political parties, however, also used martyrdom to expand their power by claiming the right to define who was a martyr and who was not. Over time, the straightforward religious convictions that first inspired the Afghan people to resist the Soviet invasion were subverted by rival political parties supporting different interpretations of Islam. Copyright © 2002 Asia Society
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