Kabul Express - Controversy

Controversy

In early January 2007 the government of Afghanistan banned the movie, Kabul Express(although the movie was never officially released there). The official banning by the Afghan Ministry of Culture followed protests over the film's racist portrayal of the Hazara nationality of Afghanistan. The Hazara people, one of the four largest nationalities in Afghanistan, who have suffered greatly under the Taliban's oppressive rule in Afghanistan, and have faced oppression and discrimination throughout the modern history of Afghan polity, are described in the film by an Afghan member of the crew and the "Pakistani Talib" as "worse than the Taliban", "bandits", "dangerous", and "savages".

In 5 January 2007, in a large gathering in Kabul, people of Kabul denounced the film as "an insult to all the people of Afghanistan". In the gathering one speaker pointed out that after decades of internecine conflict when all ethnic groups of Afghanistan are working towards building a fraternal peace in the country, such provocations should not be allowed to derail these efforts. The gathering is reported to have been peaceful and the organizers are determined to follow the legal course of action to seek redress through the governments of India and Afghanistan. Many people are adamant over Afghan Film's role in making the movie and expect that the Afghan organization should not have let the remarks pass. The Afghan actor responsible for the racist remarks has reportedly apologized, so has the Indian director of the movie Kabir Khan.

On 14 January 2007, a demonstration was held in the city of Quetta, where a large number of Hazaras reside. They demanded an apology from the director and a complete ban on the movie because "They (The Hazaras) have been offended and hurt by the movie.