Taleban, by Pueros

[JesusA (imported)]

Pueros has done a very nice job with his story “Taleban.” Well-written, and certainly timely. Possibly even true.

Bedboys and eunuchs were a part of traditional Afghan culture, and the Taliban DID execute (usually by hanging) some of those caught kidnapping boys (as well as girls) for bed use. I have not been able to discover the fate of the boys, however. This was very early in the Taliban regime. By a bit later, the Taliban themselves were kidnapping girls, though I have no evidence that they were still kidnapping boys for sexual use. Given the long Afghan tradition, I would tend to expect that they did.

Prior to the Soviet invasion, many of the dancing boys in Afghan coffee shops had been castrated. The anthropologist Louis Dupree notes that one of the dancing boys he interviewed near Mazar-i-Sharif had NOT been castrated, as if this were unusual.

Dupree in his writings on northern Afghanistan also mentions boys from poor families who were given to landlords as debt repayments, to be castrated and used as bed boys, though always before puberty. There is also a note in the Anti-Slavery Reporter in the 1960s of debt castration of 10 to 12 year-olds. (My copy is somewhere in storage, but it was in a special issue on slavery and the drug trade in Afghanistan.)

[Paolo]

This is a great one from our prolific Pueros! Loved it! I also don't doubt Jesus' comments either. Those Taliban fools don't deserve cute little eunuchs ...

[Erik (imported)]

Even though I am not really a Penectomy fan, I sure enjoyed this very nice story.

Keep up the great work.

[Pueros]

Thank you for kind remarks.

Much of what I relate is true. I based the story on a recent article in 'The (London) Times', plus research elsewhere.

PUEROS

[JesusA (imported)]

Pueros,

I’m not surprised to learn that there is a factual basis for your story. You seem to strive for a level of historical verisimilitude which is rare in fiction. I appreciate the work which goes into your writing.

Jesus