阿富汗拟明令禁止奢华婚礼

在人均年收入不足400美元的阿富汗，奢华的婚礼和攀比之风却随处可见。为此，阿富汗政府计划颁布禁令，禁止人们不顾实际经济能力举办过于奢华的婚礼。在阿富汗的传统中，婚礼要在豪华的宴会厅举办，新郎的家人要为所有开销买单，同时还要答应新娘及其家人提出的任何要求。阿富汗司法部长表示，人们办婚礼就像在比赛，谁也不甘落后，每家都会在花费不菲的婚宴上招待数百宾客以炫耀自己的财力；而其实每个家庭都是这个错误传统的受害者。据悉，该禁令的具体方案还在商讨中，因奢华婚礼之风已成气候，禁令执行将面临困难重重。不过，阿富汗部分地区的部落长老已达成一致，禁止举办豪华婚礼、置办豪华嫁妆，鼓励年轻人早日结婚，不因物质条件拖延婚期。

Extravagant weddings with music and dance were banned by Afghanistan's Taliban as un-Islamic and now the government plans to again rein in lavish marriage celebrations, but this time to stop grooms going broke.

Since U.S.-backed Afghan forces ousted the strict Islamist Taliban in 2001, Afghans have revived the tradition of holding big weddings, costing thousands of dollars, in a country where the average annual income is less than $400.

Afghan weddings are celebrated by hundreds of guests in luxurious wedding halls with the groom and his family expected to foot the bill and agree to every request of the bride and her family.

"Wedding ceremonies among people are like a competition, no one wants to come last, people like to show off their wealth by feeding hundreds of guests in costly wedding halls," said Justice Minister Habibullah Ghaleb.

"Families are the victim of such a wrong tradition and have to accept these heavy burdens," he said.

Details of the planned ban on expensive weddings were still being worked out, said Justice Ministry spokesman Farid Ahmad Najibi, and he acknowledged it could be difficult to enforce because lavish weddings were so ingrained in Afghan culture.

The government's bid to regulate weddings follows similar moves by some tribal elders and provincial officials.

Late last month, elders from several villages in northern Jawzjan province banned expensive weddings and dowries in a bid to encourage young people to marry instead of postponing their nuptials because they could not afford it.

Under the rules, the cost of a wedding must be in line with the economic status of the groom, and if someone violates the ban then they will not be invited to any other weddings in the village.

"Marriage is everyone's right and it must not be presented as a huge burden for the bride and groom," said Azaad Khwa, an elder from Jawzjan. "Making the groom's family pay for everything and feed hundreds is a big sin."