On a chilly October night, a late visitor bangs the huge steel gate of a house in a narrow alley of Mingora city, the headquarters of Pakistan's troubled northern district, Swat.
But no-one answers.
A painted sign on top of the gate says: "No more singing and dancing from today - 8 August 2007."
A curious neighbour walks up to the visitor, telling him the girls inside "have got letters from the Taleban, advising them to put an end to their business if they don't want their house blown up".
Whisky and dance
People in the Bunrh neighbourhood, the so-called music street of Mingora, confirm this information.
"Dozens of families have shifted to other cities, while many others are stuck here without any means of a living," says Fazl-e-Maula, the father-in-law of a local dancing girl, Nasreen.
Local Taleban have been spreading their influence in Swat since 2005, and are currently holding large swathes of territory just north of Mingora.
This is too much - I don't feel like dancing any more Former dancing girl Nasreen
Last August, they distributed a dozen letters across the Bunrh neighbourhood threatening bomb attacks unless the dancers and musicians gave up their professions.
Swat has been long known for its fair-skinned dancing girls, popular with people who wish to have dancing at a wedding party or any other private party across most of northern Pakistan.
Unlike some dancing girls in the Shahi Mohallah area of Lahore, the women in this conservative city have never had a reputation for providing any sexual services.
Many people visit the girls in Swat at their houses in Bunrh for a glass of whisky and a dance.
Down the decades, many of the girls have shown themselves to be talented radio singers or movie stars.
But in recent years the tide has turned against them in a big way.
It started with the "Islamisation" policy of former military ruler, Gen Zia ul-Haq, in the 1980s, which saw the rise of the clergy's influence in social life. This made dance parties at weddings increasingly unpopular.
In 2002, a religious alliance, the MMA, came to power in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and banned all cultural shows where these girls performed.
At the turn of the millennium, many girls were on their way out of business.
"I was too old to dance by then," recalls Shah Bano, 38. "My daughter had her admirers, but when the MMA came to power, invitations to wedding parties began to get few and far between. And there was the risk of arrest and public humiliation."
Two years ago her husband, Babu - "the best drummer in Mingora" - died. This gave her son, a staunch opponent of dancing in the family, a chance to force his sister out of business.
"I work for a local butcher," says Shaukat Ali, Shah Bano's son. "The wages are not great, but I'm glad my sister doesn't have to dance for a living."
Violent campaign
The girls who turned to music concerts and stage shows, often held in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, were thrown out of business when the cultural shows were banned.
Some of them benefited temporarily when the aficionados and businessmen on NWFP's dance and music scene diversified into the video CD business, producing and distributing long plays and dance sessions on VCDs and DVDs.
But a violent campaign by militant Taleban has caused this business to decline across large parts of NWFP. Hundreds of video outlets have been blown up. Others have voluntarily closed down or switched to other businesses.
These repeated reverses have frustrated many girls and their families. Nasreen, 26, a mother of two, is one of them.
She says she was "hurt when some maulanas [clerics] sighted her and banned her stage show in Peshawar four years ago".
"It was a problem because the men of the house - my husband and father-in-law - knew no other trade except to play musical instruments."
Optimists and rebels
In 2006, she received almost half a dozen contracts to perform for music video CDs, often recorded on private premises.
It brought her enough money to buy a passenger van for her husband. However, due to his inexperience the income from the van has been far from satisfactory.
She says she tried to supplement the household income by receiving guests at home, until the Taleban in Swat issued their threats in August, leading to a complete ban on all singing and dancing in Mingora.
"This is too much. I don't feel like dancing any more," she says.
But Mingora's music street is not without its optimists and rebels.
"My heart tells me that things will change for the better, but I hope I'm alive by then," says Palwasha, an enthusiastic 18-year-old novice.
And for a novice she has done very well so far.
Unlike Nasreen, she has taken risks and done more than 20 CD plays and video dance sessions, despite an explicit ban by the Taleban.
She has also sung numbers or performed on songs for the official Pakistan Television (PTV) and a Pashto language private TV channel, AVT Khyber.
Three months ago, she did a small role for a teleplay produced by Pakistan's Geo Entertainment TV channel.
She aspires to go to Lahore and act in movies, but neither she nor her uncle and guardian, Mohammad Saleem, have any contacts there.
And it is dangerous to stay on in Mingora.
"I have defied the Taleban's ban, and sometimes I suspect that they know it. I only hope to get out of here before they blow me up," she says.
Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the persons
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Chavez Loses Constitutional Vote
Chavez Loses Vote That Would Have Let Him Run for Re-Election Indefinitely
CARACAS, Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez suffered a stinging defeat in a vote on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely, the chief of National Electoral Council said Monday.
Voters defeated the sweeping measures by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, Tibisay Lucena said.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) A vote on sweeping constitutional reforms that could let Hugo Chavez hold the presidency for life remained unresolved early Monday, with the government saying it was too close to call and the opposition pressing for results.
Tensions grew as hours passed after the official close of voting with no announcement of results. The referendum on constitutional changes was a critical test for a leader bent on turning this major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state.
An emboldened opposition and clashes during student-led protests in recent weeks prompted fears of bitter conflict if either side disputed the results.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said early Monday that "the time has come to announce the results to the country." Capriles earlier had noted that 97 percent of polling stations are automated.
Another opposition spokesman Leopoldo Lopez, mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, claimed earlier that results seen by election monitors "indicate the 'no' vote is going to win."
Caravans of Chavez's supporters had taken to the streets after polls closed, honking horns and blaring celebratory music in anticipation of victory. But their enthusiasm appeared to fade as the hours wore on.
"The result of the referendum is close," Vice President Jorge Rodriguez said from Chavez's campaign headquarters. "We will respect the result, whatever it is even if it's by one single vote."
Chavez's opponents fear a win by the president could mean a plunge toward dictatorship. Supporters have faith that Chavez would use the reforms to deepen grass-roots democracy and more equitably spread Venezuela's oil wealth.
The changes would help transform the major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state. They would create new forms of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map, permit civil liberties to be suspended under extended states of emergency and allow Chavez to seek re-election indefinitely. Otherwise, he cannot run again in 2012.
Chavez warned opponents ahead of the vote he would not tolerate attempts to incite violence, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if Washington interferes. Chavez calls those who resist his socialist agenda pawns of President Bush.
"He's going to be an elected dictator," 77-year-old voter Ruben Rozenberg said of Chavez. The retired blue jeans maker, who emigrated from Cuba in 1961, said that although Chavez's revolution is peaceful compared to that of Fidel Castro, "we've been violated all around" by the Venezuelan leader's progressive consolidation of power.
Across town, in a pro-Chavez slum, 40-year-old Jorge Blanco said Chavez "is giving power to the people" through the reforms.
"He opened that little door and now we're free." Of the wealthy elite, Blanco said: "What they fear is losing power."
The government touted pre-election polls showing Chavez with an advantage, while surveys cited by the opposition indicated strong resistance unfamiliar territory for a leader who easily won re-election last year with 63 percent of the vote.
Casting his ballot, Chavez called the electronic voting system "one of the most modern in the world, one of the most transparent in the world."
His opponents have questioned the National Electoral Council's impartiality, however, especially after Chavez named Rodriguez, its former chief, his vice president in January.
About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States were on hand, the electoral council said. Absent were the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.
All was reported calm during voting but 45 people were detained, most for committing ballot-related crimes like "destroying electoral materials," said Gen. Jesus Gonzalez, chief of a military command overseeing security.
At a polling station in one politically divided Caracas neighborhood, Chavez supporters shouted "Get out of here!" to opposition backers who stood nearby aiming to monitor the vote count. A few dozen Chavistas rode by on motorcycles with bandanas and hats covering their faces, some throwing firecrackers.
Opponents including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders fear the reforms would grant Chavez unchecked power and threaten basic rights.
Cecilia Goldberger, a 56-year-old voting in affluent eastern Caracas, said Venezuelans were being hoodwinked and do not really understand how Chavez's power grab will affect them.
She resented pre-dawn, get-out-the-vote tactics by Chavistas, including fireworks and reveille blaring from speakers mounted on cruising trucks.
"I refuse to be treated like cattle and I refuse to be part of a communist regime," the Israeli-born Goldberger said, adding that she and her businessman husband hope to leave the country.
Chavez sought to capitalize on his personal popularity ahead of the vote.
He is seen by many as a champion of the poor who has redistributed more oil wealth than any other leader in memory. Chavez, 53, says he will stay in power only as long as Venezuelans keep re-electing him but has added that might be until 2050, when he would be 95 years old. The reforms would also grant Chavez control over the Central Bank and extend presidential terms from six to seven years.
Many Chavez supporters say he needs more time in office to consolidate his unique brand of "21st century socialism," and praise other proposed changes such as shortening the workday from eight hours to six, creating a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoting communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.
Tensions have surged in recent weeks as university students led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups.
Some 140,000 soldiers and reservists were posted for the vote, the Defense Ministry said.
Electoral council chief Tibisay Lucena called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."
Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Edison Lopez, Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, Christopher Toothaker and Sandra Sierra contributed to this report.
CARACAS, Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez suffered a stinging defeat in a vote on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely, the chief of National Electoral Council said Monday.
Voters defeated the sweeping measures by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, Tibisay Lucena said.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) A vote on sweeping constitutional reforms that could let Hugo Chavez hold the presidency for life remained unresolved early Monday, with the government saying it was too close to call and the opposition pressing for results.
Tensions grew as hours passed after the official close of voting with no announcement of results. The referendum on constitutional changes was a critical test for a leader bent on turning this major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state.
An emboldened opposition and clashes during student-led protests in recent weeks prompted fears of bitter conflict if either side disputed the results.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said early Monday that "the time has come to announce the results to the country." Capriles earlier had noted that 97 percent of polling stations are automated.
Another opposition spokesman Leopoldo Lopez, mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, claimed earlier that results seen by election monitors "indicate the 'no' vote is going to win."
Caravans of Chavez's supporters had taken to the streets after polls closed, honking horns and blaring celebratory music in anticipation of victory. But their enthusiasm appeared to fade as the hours wore on.
"The result of the referendum is close," Vice President Jorge Rodriguez said from Chavez's campaign headquarters. "We will respect the result, whatever it is even if it's by one single vote."
Chavez's opponents fear a win by the president could mean a plunge toward dictatorship. Supporters have faith that Chavez would use the reforms to deepen grass-roots democracy and more equitably spread Venezuela's oil wealth.
The changes would help transform the major U.S. oil provider into a socialist state. They would create new forms of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map, permit civil liberties to be suspended under extended states of emergency and allow Chavez to seek re-election indefinitely. Otherwise, he cannot run again in 2012.
Chavez warned opponents ahead of the vote he would not tolerate attempts to incite violence, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if Washington interferes. Chavez calls those who resist his socialist agenda pawns of President Bush.
"He's going to be an elected dictator," 77-year-old voter Ruben Rozenberg said of Chavez. The retired blue jeans maker, who emigrated from Cuba in 1961, said that although Chavez's revolution is peaceful compared to that of Fidel Castro, "we've been violated all around" by the Venezuelan leader's progressive consolidation of power.
Across town, in a pro-Chavez slum, 40-year-old Jorge Blanco said Chavez "is giving power to the people" through the reforms.
"He opened that little door and now we're free." Of the wealthy elite, Blanco said: "What they fear is losing power."
The government touted pre-election polls showing Chavez with an advantage, while surveys cited by the opposition indicated strong resistance unfamiliar territory for a leader who easily won re-election last year with 63 percent of the vote.
Casting his ballot, Chavez called the electronic voting system "one of the most modern in the world, one of the most transparent in the world."
His opponents have questioned the National Electoral Council's impartiality, however, especially after Chavez named Rodriguez, its former chief, his vice president in January.
About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States were on hand, the electoral council said. Absent were the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.
All was reported calm during voting but 45 people were detained, most for committing ballot-related crimes like "destroying electoral materials," said Gen. Jesus Gonzalez, chief of a military command overseeing security.
At a polling station in one politically divided Caracas neighborhood, Chavez supporters shouted "Get out of here!" to opposition backers who stood nearby aiming to monitor the vote count. A few dozen Chavistas rode by on motorcycles with bandanas and hats covering their faces, some throwing firecrackers.
Opponents including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders fear the reforms would grant Chavez unchecked power and threaten basic rights.
Cecilia Goldberger, a 56-year-old voting in affluent eastern Caracas, said Venezuelans were being hoodwinked and do not really understand how Chavez's power grab will affect them.
She resented pre-dawn, get-out-the-vote tactics by Chavistas, including fireworks and reveille blaring from speakers mounted on cruising trucks.
"I refuse to be treated like cattle and I refuse to be part of a communist regime," the Israeli-born Goldberger said, adding that she and her businessman husband hope to leave the country.
Chavez sought to capitalize on his personal popularity ahead of the vote.
He is seen by many as a champion of the poor who has redistributed more oil wealth than any other leader in memory. Chavez, 53, says he will stay in power only as long as Venezuelans keep re-electing him but has added that might be until 2050, when he would be 95 years old. The reforms would also grant Chavez control over the Central Bank and extend presidential terms from six to seven years.
Many Chavez supporters say he needs more time in office to consolidate his unique brand of "21st century socialism," and praise other proposed changes such as shortening the workday from eight hours to six, creating a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoting communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.
Tensions have surged in recent weeks as university students led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups.
Some 140,000 soldiers and reservists were posted for the vote, the Defense Ministry said.
Electoral council chief Tibisay Lucena called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."
Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Edison Lopez, Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, Christopher Toothaker and Sandra Sierra contributed to this report.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)