When the Afghan cricket team defeated England at the ICC Champions Trophy match in Lahore on February 26 by eight runs in a nail-biting finish that went to the last over, cricket lovers the world over applauded this plucky team for their resilience and determination. Since they were admitted to the international cricketing fold in 2017, Afghanistan, with its war-ravaged history of the last five decades, has transmuted this game into a symbol of national identity, hope and unity.

This winning streak came to a disappointing end on February 28 when Afghanistan played Australia, the top dogs in the ICC, and put up a fighting score of 273, but the match was abandoned due to rain. The Aussies had already raced to 109 for the loss of one wicket in under 13 overs and the outcome was predictable.

But Afghanistan is now a high-calibre cricketing nation and even the Taliban, with its oppressive rule, is aware of the team’s popularity.

However, this spotlight on the Afghan cricket team at the ICC and their prowess also draws attention to a tragic tale — that of the Afghan women’s cricket team. Their plight is a microcosm of the larger oppression and erasure that the Taliban, currently in power in Kabul since August 2021, has inflicted on the women of Afghanistan.

With the Taliban restricting education for girls, banning all kinds of sports for women and forbidding them from appearing in public spaces, the Afghan women cricketers had to flee the country to escape persecution. In a dramatic journey in late 2021, enabled by three intrepid Australian women — Mel Jones, Emma Staples and Catherine Ordway — a total of 120 people were smuggled out of Afghanistan to Australia via Pakistan and Dubai.

An Afghan women’s cricket team in exile has been formed in Melbourne and they are seeking both recognition and support from the ICC management, but this has proved elusive. As per the rules, to qualify for full membership of the ICC, a cricketing nation has to field both a men’s and a women’s team to receive funding and enjoy Test status.

Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, this condition regarding a women’s team has not been met, but the ICC has chosen to accord the ACB (Afghanistan Cricket Board) full membership with funding and has allowed it to participate in the current championship.

The ICC is aware of the plight of the Afghan women’s team in exile and Chairman Jay Shah has noted: “We are committed to supporting cricket development through the Afghanistan Cricket Board while recognising the challenges facing Afghan women’s cricket, including the concerns of players living in exile.” He added: “Our focus is on constructive dialogue and viable solutions that safeguard the best interests of all Afghan cricketers.”

The status of women in Afghanistan since the Taliban assumed power in 2021 has been steadily deteriorating. A UN official who prepared the country report described this period as “three years’ worth of countless decrees, directives and statements targeting women and girls, stripping them of their fundamental rights and eviscerating their autonomy”.

This erosion of dignity and loss of self-esteem has precipitated a mental health crisis among young Afghan girls and women and the incidence of suicides has been increasing. Concurrently, early child-bearing and infant mortality has increased by almost 50 per cent since mid-2021.

Traditionally, Afghan women have enjoyed a high degree of access to education and work opportunities as also gender dignity within the framework of a conservative Muslim society. However, the imposition of a visibly misogynistic Taliban ideology has made half the population almost invisible, for they cannot be seen in public spaces. The erasure of identity and self-esteem is frightening.

The UN Security Council passed an ambitious and lofty Resolution 1325 in October 2000, which demanded that all member states respect and comply with international law related to the rights and protection of women and girls. Afghanistan adopted a NAP (National Action Plan) in 2015 with normative goals to ensure gender equity and protection from sexual violence, but all of this has been jettisoned under the Taliban rule.

Post the enormity of 9/11 in September 2001, the US bombed Afghanistan back to the ‘stone age’ and sought to prise the Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden from Taliban protection. The Taliban fled Kabul and a fledgling democracy was ushered into Afghanistan but it did not take roots.

Twenty years later, the US made a hasty and shambolic withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021 (reminiscent of the American withdrawal from Saigon in April 1975) and the Taliban came back to seize power in Kabul.

Clearly, using force to intimidate the Taliban, that is steeped in patriarchy and male dominance, to conform to a more gender-equitable form of governance is not a viable option. Sociological research related to peace, conflict resolution and women’s security dwells on ‘patriarchal bargaining’ as a means to infuse a degree of malleability in an otherwise inflexible, gender-insensitive hierarchy. Academics and activists have been engaged in valuable research in this area and there is a strong case to evolve a political consensus based on these findings to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

India has always had an empathetic relationship with the Afghan people even as that nation was plunged into war and devastation since the Soviet occupation of 1979. In recent months, Delhi has begun a tentative rapprochement with the Taliban and comfort at the official level will slowly evolve.

The ICC card provides an option to incentivise bargaining with the Taliban and quiet cricket diplomacy should be explored. For a start, the ICC could provide funding that is due to the women’s team in exile in Melbourne after due consultation with the ACB and other steps can follow.

The unfortunate girls and women in Afghanistan who remain stoic and resolute despite the Taliban decrees must not be forgotten. Reach out to these sisters in your own manner and let them know that their plight has not been erased from the collective consciousness.