AFGHANS SLIP BACK TO OLD-TIME WAYS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19270, 6 January 1931, Page 9

AFGHANS SLIP BACK TO OLD-TIME WAYS.

CAPTIVES DIE AT MOUTH OF EXPLODING CANNON. PESHAWAR, December S. Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, is gradually slipping back to many of the picturesque native customs which exKing Amanullah tried to abolish after his tour of Europe in 1928. Travellers from Kabul say that the last “ jirgah,” a native mass meeting summoned b 3’ > Nadir Shah, was attended by more than 300 tribal representatives from various parts of Afghanistan. Various subjects of vital interest to the country districts were discussed. All the delegates wore tribal dress, a strong contrast to the practice under Amanullah, when all were urged to don European dress and some of the tribesmen, never having seen a frock coat before they arrived at the capital, had to be instructed in how to wear one. It was stated at the “ jirgah ” that the round-up of rebels in Kohistan and Kohidaman was proceeding apace and that the prisoners included the father of Baccha-Sakao, “ the water boy of the north,” who dethroned Amanullah, but was subsequently beaten and hanged bv Nadir's men. Most of the captives from last summer’s uprising have been blown from cannon.