PebHmong Discussion Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: theking on January 10, 2023, 11:18:47 PM
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Afghanistan’s Bruce Lee’ recalls hardship after Taliban retook power
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Abbas Alizada, known online as "Afghanistan’s Bruce Lee” for his uncanny resemblance to the late legendary martial artist, recently recalled his troubling experience after the Taliban retook control of his country in 2021.
Speaking to The Star, Alizada, 29, shared the hardships he had to endure after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021 and the subsequent departure of the United States government following a 20-year occupation.
As a martial artist, online star and a member of the Taliban-persecuted Hazara ethnic group, Alizada said the Taliban’s control of the country forced him to go into hiding for more than a year.
While he was not necessarily on any official wanted list, Alizada recalled he that had to grow a beard to get past the Taliban border police and avoid recognition since he is famous in the country.
“We had freedom, but the Taliban brought back restrictions and persecution,” he told The Star.
Alizada said he had to cover his face whenever he needed to train in a well-equipped gym in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
“I went through hard days in the last year,” he said. “The Taliban took freedom from us. I was going to my gym with fear and stress.”
The Taliban also censored the arts when it controlled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.
During that period, the Islamic fundamentalist group enforced a strict ban on music, movies and TV as its members considered these activities to be "non-Islamic." Works of art, including even paintings and sculptures from the famed National Museum in Kabul, were looted and subsequently destroyed.