Seventy Afghan couples marry in Kabul mass wedding

Kabul, Afghanistan (AFP):

Dozens of Afghan women wearing thick green shawls were married off in a mass wedding in Kabul on Monday in a ceremony attended by hundreds of guests including Taliban fighters.

Marriage is a costly affair in deeply impoverished Afghanistan, traditionally involving huge dowries, expensive gifts and lavish parties.

Historically, couples from families unable to foot the bill have sometimes opted to pool their resources in low-cost large scale ‘mass marriages.’ The June 13 ceremony involved 70 couples.

“Today, no young man wants to bear the burden of an expensive wedding,” said groom Ebadullah Niazai, who had waited eight years to be married.

“I have no job. We were short of money and so we decided to marry at a mass wedding ceremony,” said 22 year-old groom Esmatullah Bashardost, who hails from the minority Shiite Hazara community.

Bashardost, sporting a traditional Afghan cap, said his wedding would likely be the most “happy day” of his life.

Following the segregation directives by the Taliban government, the male and female guests as well as the brides and grooms were kept separate throughout the ceremony.

Poetry recitations and speeches by charity organisers of the event were also part of the proceedings.

Journalists were not allowed to speak to the brides, who wore crisp white gowns under their shawls, but were permitted to photograph and film them.

The men including the grooms wore traditional white shalwar kameez.

A red and white wedding cake was produced for each couple.

The event ended as grooms — each sporting a plastic name badge — collected their brides and left the venue in cars decorated with flowers and ribbons.

A single day booking at a Kabul wedding hall costs between $10,000 and $20,000 and organiser Sayed Ahmad Selab said some betrothed couples were “waiting for years” because of the expense.

During their first regime between 1996 and 2001 the Taliban had banned pompous weddings.

This time, the Taliban have not reinstated their previous ban. However, the prohibition of musical entertainment and mixed gender dances was strictly followed.