In Afghanistan, a Crackdown on Imported Pleasures

An Afghan boy studies a poster advertising a popular Indian movie at a theater in Kabul. Some Islamic critics want to ban such movies because they feature women dancing and wearing few clothes. The movies are usually sold out. (By Pamela Constable -- The Washington Post)

"It is very difficult for people here to say they are against the virtue and vice committee, but I am against a department that could be a way of bringing the extremists back," said Shukria Barakzai, a female legislator. "If they want to do something about corruption and domestic violence, fine, but I don't need a department to decide if I am a bad or a good Muslim."

In the same week that the government sent alleged prostitutes back to China, it faced a different foreign challenge to Islamic culture -- the arrival of about 1,200 evangelical Christians from South Korea. They intended to stage a public rally last weekend, but after diplomatic negotiations, they were sent home because Afghan officials feared they would offend local Muslims by proselytizing and risk being physically attacked.

The depth of Islamic passion here -- and the wide disparity between Afghan and Western views of religious rights -- were also dramatized in March when an Afghan man who converted to Christianity was threatened with capital punishment. Under foreign pressure, the government let him quietly flee to Italy, but the incident shocked many Americans who thought their troops had liberated Afghanistan from Islamic persecution.

Today, Afghan officials are eager to please their foreign benefactors and guests, yet also face pressure from local religious leaders to stem the accompanying flow of imported pleasures -- from French wines to Internet pornography -- that can now easily reach young Afghans.

"Some of the foreign aid groups help us, but others have another agenda to influence us in the wrong direction. They are unwanted guests," said Enayatullah Balegh, a Muslim cleric who teaches Islamic law at Kabul University. "We need the aid and the coalition forces, but we do not want the West interfering in our religion."

The trickiest part for officials is how to treat establishments that cater to both foreigners and Afghans, who increasingly socialize together. Under Afghan law, a business may serve liquor to foreigners but not to Afghans, even if they are at the same table, which can cause embarrassment and discomfort.

Since the police raids two weeks ago, a number of restaurants have shut down, most of them Chinese-owned businesses that allegedly provided prostitutes. Others have hid their liquor, put up placards barring Afghans and reported a sharp drop in customers of all nationalities.

Sabit said U.N. officials and foreign diplomats had complained about the raids, which also affected successful Thai- and Lebanese-owned establishments. But he said that "government enemies" were spreading lies about the crackdown and that it was aimed solely at places that had illegally provided liquor or prostitutes to Afghan Muslims.

For many Afghan Muslims, the issue of foreign vices arouses contradictory emotions. Young men often acknowledge hankering to explore forbidden pleasures, even while saying they disapprove. Until the recent deportations, ogling Chinese women on the streets was a major pastime here, but angry mobs attacked and vandalized several Chinese brothels during an anti-foreign riot May 29. Indian movies featuring sensual dancing women are usually sold out, and online pornography sites are constantly perused at local Internet cafes.

"These movies have a very bad impact on people, and they should be banned," said Reza Mousani, 21, who was in a crowd of young men waiting outside a movie house covered with posters of buxom Indian film stars. "People who have been away in the West came back with the habits of freedom. Those who stayed here want freedom, but only within our religious framework."

Nisar Ahmad, 26, a tinsmith, said he had been beaten by the Taliban police as a teenager for having long hair. "We were prisoners in those days, and I hope they never return," he said. "But that does not mean we want our culture to change. I might wear jeans, but Islam is in my heart."

While human rights activists warn that raids and religious police might reopen the door to fundamentalist persecution, on Thursday night it was business as usual -- loud, licentious and tipsy -- at one nameless bar and brothel, less than two weeks after police had raided the place and confiscated its liquor.

The manager complained about the raid but said he had been able to hide the women in time, and had restocked his bar a few days later. But in several other restaurants, managers said they were losing business because of the crackdown and had suffered under vague and shifting policies on liquor licenses and Islamic law enforcement.

"We are all scared now, and it is not fair," said Hashmat, a supervisor at one Italian restaurant. He said a large group that came for dinner this week left after being told the Afghans could not be served wine or beer. "Our customers are angry," he said. "They should leave us alone. This is not Taliban time, it is a democracy."