Picture of the day: The Governor speaks

Peshawar: Sir George Cunningham, (center on table), British Governor of the Northwest Frontier Province, speaking to hundreds of Pathan (pashtun) tribesmen, as other govt. officials look on, during first jirga (tribal assembly) on the lawn of the Khyber House.

picture originally taken by Life magazine, with thanks to Munir for the recommendation

Picture of the day: Kashmir ..only Kashmir!

taken from LIFE magazine archives: looking back at these pictures does anyone wonder if this was the first time Pakistan was to let the genie out of the bottle? -ed.

	جيندخه په لوټه وخته وي ل ئي چه کشمير مي وليده The frog mounted a  clod,  and said he had  seen Kashmir - Pashto proverb

Armed Pashtun tribesmen waiting on road between Peshawar & Rawalpindi for their leader Bacha Gul of the Mohmand tribe, to arrive with trucks and extra
ammunitions to lead them into battle in Kashmir

Afghanistan: Alive again to the sound of music

By Zia Ur Rehman

Like many thousands of Afghan children, Wahidullah, 13, spent much of his childhood running around on the streets of Kabul in all weathers, selling plastic bags to earn livelihood for his family.

But his life was quite changed when he was accepted as a student at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), a government-private partnership initiative that gives orphans, street vendors and other disadvantaged children a chance to express and develop themselves through music and help them recover from the war.

 After decades of civil war and the Taliban’s five year ban on music, the government, musicians and cultural organizations are trying to resuscitate the musical life in Afghanistan. Music teaching has been returned in the country with founding of the ANIM.

Taliban’s ban on Music:

When Taliban took over the control of Afghanistan, they announced a complete ban of music. “Taliban infamously beat musicians, destroyed instruments, and publicly burned recordings in the name of that regime's extreme version of Islam”, said Waheed Gul Wafa, a Kabul-based local singer.

“Women and music were two key targets of Taliban”, Wafa said. “Adopting an extreme interpretation of Islam, the Taliban decreed that women could not work or study while also prohibited music, calling it "un-Islamic," and burned instruments, cassette tapes and other musical recordings, Wafa told the scribe  Even today, Taliban attacks shops selling music cassettes and instruments and harass the musicians in some parts of the country, he said.

Many musicians fled the country especially to neighboring Pakistan where some of them started working in Peshawar. “After the fall of Taliban regime, many Afghan musicians returned from lives as refugees in neighboring Pakistan and Iran and started working again without any fear”, Wafa said.

ANIM launched to rebuild musical life in Afghanistan

One was Dr.Ahmad Sarmast, a musicologist who returned from Australia to his native Afghanistan to open an academy at the very site where his own musical education began as a boy.

For over 20 years, children couldn't learn music in Afghanistan. I wanted to create a proper school," Sarmast said, explaining why he returned.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Education established its first music school known as it was known as the School of Fine Arts in 1973 in Kabul but school has had a chaotic history especially during civil war among Mujahedeen groups and Taliban’s five years rule.

Since 2008, Sarmast have headed a new project at the ANIM at the same site that aims to help rebuild musical life in the country.

The Institute is functioning under ministry of education with the financial support of some countries and international musicians. Last year the institute was renovated with the funding provided by several western countries, said James Herzog, a music instructor at ANIM.

“The music school at same site was repeatedly shelled and looted by warring Mujahideen groups who used traditional and expensive musical instruments for kindling and to carry ammunition, according to caretakers.

 “Starting at age 10, boys and girls will learn Afghan and Western classical traditions alongside a regular curriculum that includes English, Mathematics and learning the holy Qur’an”, James added. Considering that Afghanistan has never included the arts within its general education curriculum, James termed it an impressive step.

“Historically, music has been a vibrant and important part of Afghan culture, but war and neglect has left students without teachers, teachers without resources, and professional musicians without a context for their art”, said Sarmast in an interview.

Prominent Afghan musicians, such as Gholam Hossein ,Ustad Amruddin, Abdul Latif, and Mohammed Jawid Mahmood, teach students at ANIM to play traditional Afghan instruments.

“The ANIM is prepared to offer music classes to our young generation”, Farooq Wardak, Education Minister, told media March 24. “We are making efforts to revive cultural and art activities across the country and the ANIM is an example of our ongoing efforts”, he said.  

Driven by the success of the ANIM in Kabul, Sarmast plans to open three more schools in Jalalabad, Heart and Mazar Sharif.

“The schools will be opened with the full support of the Ministry of Education and with financial, material and professional support from the international community and international music organisations, manufacturers and dealers of musical instruments,” Sarmast said.

Opportunities for orphan and street children:

The ANIM is committed to providing a dynamic, challenging and safe learning environment for all students regardless of gender, ethnicity or social circumstances.

“We also have a special focus on supporting the most disadvantaged group in Afghan society – the orphans and street children – to help them attain a vocation that will allow them to reach their full potential”, said James, adding that fifty per cent of the school enrollment each year is reserved for underprivileged children –both girl and boys, whose families receive a stipend of around $30 each month so that the children can attend the school instead of working.

 “When I used to sell plastic bags all over the city, I never could have dreamed that such a great change could happen in my life,” said Waheedullah.

‘White page’, a rock band

ANIM students and recent graduates have formed a rock band named ‘White Page’, who their own music alongside the covers of bands popular around the world.

“The ANIM has provided us a great opportunity to teach us traditional and western music”, said Rashed Afzali, a member of the band. “Our country has long legacy of music and poetry and now young generation is trying to revive it again”, he added.

(The writer is a journalist and researcher. His work is archived at www.ziawrites.com. This piece was first published at Central Asia Online)

Peshawar: This is our time!

Hum se he ye zamana

Other than a thrilling cricket match, there are usually no events other than sports that brings the entire country together. But then comes the 14th of August, every year and that is when we truly get to see the patriotic fervor of the nation otherwise divided by castes, languages and political ideologies.

This 14th August was not too different from the previous  one, I was actually in Islamabad, the roads were blocked, the buildings were lit with green lights, and the city had turned green. While I was staying out of the trouble, friends at the MASH productions team at Peshawar were busy filming the entire Independence Day celebrations. 

This is not the first time they filmed the celebrations, the last year celebration video they made went viral on Facebook and Twitter and got a very positive response from people so now it’s going to be an yearly thing.  

The video starts with a bird eye view of the Peshawar GT Road, followed by a close up of the architectural excellence of the premier educational institution Islamia College and than moving on to interior city depicting the early morning, when the city wakes up. We are than given a detailed view of the main bazaars of the city including the famous Qissa Khwani & Cantt Bazaar and the hustle and bustle of the near bursting city. With rickshaws squeezing their way through every minor gap possible and kids playing in the bazaars. 

While the merchants are shown doing business selling different stuff from plastic water coolers , garlands , dry fruits, milk and local beverages and naans, some people are shown killing the scorching heat of summer taking a dip into a nearby  water tank.

The video perfectly blends the summer and spirit of Ramadan altogether as well as giving a short and sweet depiction of the city whose enthusiasm and love for its country follows in the later part of the video.

And then it’s the time for celebrations: One Nation, divided only by the flags and cars all over the city of Peshawar. Kids and youth all with flags painted on their cheeks and taking a walk across the streets of Peshawar being a part of what has been the most amazing celebrations Peshawar has ever seen. The video shows car racers and motorcyclists wheeling all over the road but while the musician in the background says “Dunya Ko Hay Dikhana… Hum Say Hay Yeh Zamaana”. 

translation: We must show the world. This is our time!
The author is a Marketing grad from Edinburgh Uni, with interest in Culture, Music, Food and Travel and all things Pakistan. He can be reached on twitter @Khushal

Picture of the day: Karachi

Warning Notice Keamari: "South African Europeans would not be welcome to Karachi (1946) in view of the racial discrimination made in their country and the anti Indian legislation passed by them". picture courtesy Ali Jan

Culture vs Religion?

I constantly come across Muslims who think that culture and religion are two different things, very much assured that culture serves as the culprit for every single thing that goes wrong in Muslim societies. At a friend's bridal shower recently, for instance, I heard two girls talking to each other, one of whom was saying to the other, "Yeah, in my family, it's only Islam, alhamdulillah. There's no culture whatsoever." And the other responded in awe: "Wow! Lucky you! And that's how it should be, you know." I smiled in response to this interesting and common conversation among Muslims.

We make it seem like culture has absolutely nothing to do with our religion (in our case, Islam) or how it is implemented in our society. However, in terms of how Islam is practiced (not necessarily how it should be), our cultures have everything to do with the practice of Islam. Let’s wonder for a moment why Islam is practiced so differently in Indonesia than in Iran or Egypt or Saudi Arabia; let’s wonder why it’s practiced far more differently in the U.S., Canada, and Europe than in Pakistan, India, or Malaysia; let’s wonder why the practices of the Muslims in China and Japan are not the same as those in Iraq, Syria, or Bangladesh. For instance, a Pakistani Muslim who moves to the U.S., starts attending the mosque or otherwise learning Islam soon discovers that many things she/he was taught was un-Islamic are actually Islamic or Islam has a neutral position on it. Muslims from other countries experience the same epiphany. Is it because there is no "culture" in America? No. It is because there is no one culture in America.

Many consider this the "beauty" of Islam: it can be integrated into any belief system, interpreted in a million different ways (even if they're opposite – though this is not unique only to Islam), and practiced in any society and time and culture. Throughout Islamic history, we can spot any point in time and ask what Islam meant for that specific period of time and for that specific region. Today is no exception, and if this breaks our hearts and makes us go, "OMG OMG OMG!! This is not good! We must do something about it!" we're fooling ourselves and wasting our time on something that we don’t have any power over.

So, really, who are we fooling when we lie to ourselves that Islam and culture are two different things? Just ourselves.

Religion and culture are very much embedded into each other and have a strong and indelible influence on one another. Islam – rather, religion in general – is a theory, a theory that can be put into practice in many, many different ways, often being mingled with the original practices of the society that eventually embraces that religion. One of those ways is by interpreting it in a way that it fits our social norms that existed long before the religion ever invaded our land. The reason for this does not require a genius or a scholar to figure out: Religion needs to be practical, and whichever of its laws and routines are not practical for a certain society, that society will not hesitate to reject them. To ask a people to completely rid themselves of their previous customs, no matter how much they may be "clashing" with the religion they are compelled to accept, is silly and impractical. Looking into Islamic history and the beliefs of the people we call the pagans of Arabia, we notice that a lot of the rituals we have to perform during Hajj are actually derived from pre-Arab customs but were simply incorporated into Islam once they were re-interpreted to fit the standards of the Islamic/monotheistic concept of God and divinity and worship. (The concept of dowry is another example. It was simply made by claiming that it is to help the woman, though it can also mean other things … including some bad things, that is, such as: A man is paying a certain amount of money to the bride so that he can sexually own her for the rest of her life, or so that he can expect her obedience. This is how Muslim scholars in medieval and classical times interpreted the dowry. But today, how many Muslim women, especially in the west, are willing to see it this way?)

So we cannot expect people to give up every single one of their custom that they so cherished before they had to accept Islam, even if those practices clash with our understanding of Islam. It is only natural for them to keep some things from their past and accept new ones from the religion they have been introduced to, or to just mix both or re-interpret their older beliefs and practices so they can be explained from their new perspectives.

For example, on the treatment of women: there are teachings in Islam that, if interpreted from a a certain perspective, do in fact support the mistreatment of women in Muslim cultures. The “Islamic” concept of divorce is one (if interpreted literally, the woman has to go through hell to get a divorce; so why bother divorcing at all? And the four Sunni legal schools aren't very helpful either:  they all differ significantly, such that, according to the Hanafi law, a woman cannot leave the marriage even if she is being abused or her husband is not fulfilling his duties as a husband or even if he goes missing--the wife has to wait until the husband would die a "natural" death or wait until he would be 104 years old to get a divorce! But Shafi’ law is more women-friendly when it comes to divorce: She can divorce her husband if he fails to provide for her and her kids financially, if he beats her, or even if she’s just unhappy.

Another example might be the Islamic teaching that education is compulsory upon every Muslim. Depending on how and where we were raised, we might interpret the word "education" differently--from no schooling but "education" about domestic work to 10th grade or high school to being able to obtain a PhD or moving alone to another country for higher education, and so on.

Although the formation and development of law is a separate topic than the notion of culture versus religion, the point here is that how we understand Islam is based on the assumptions and beliefs we are raised with. The scholars who interpret the religion for us are no exception: they, too, are children and products of their own cultures, and this is why a scholar from Pakistan is likely to give you a different "Islamic" opinion on, for example, how marriage relations are to be conducted versus how a Muslim scholar born and raised in Great Britain might. It is an unfair mistake to assume that one is more right than the other just because one might give an opinion that we were raised to believe is "Islamic" while the other is not.

Is this to mean that it's Islam's fault? Not necessarily, because, as aforementioned, Islam is a theory; it becomes practice only once it is interpreted AND then implemented. So it's not necessarily Islam's fault but the fault of the interpretations, though often inexorably stemming from the literal text of the Quran itself. 

The Fight for Independence Afghanistan May 1919

this is the second part of a two part series celebrating Afghan independence day. Part one can be read here 

by Peymana Assad 

For years Habibullah Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan had been building support to fight against the British, but nothing came of the schemes he devised. He was heavily subsidized by the British, but he chafed under their control of Afghan foreign policy. His powers could really only be compared to that of a British provincial governor, even though no British soldier was on Afghan soil. In February 1919 Habibullah was assassinated while on a hunting trip. After a brief succession fight, Amanullah Khan, one of his sons took power and became the new Amir. 

For many years already small but vicious battles flared on the Eastern parts of Afghanistan into British India, so Amanullah finally declared war on Britain. As a gesture to the Afghan people he went to Eidgah Mosque in Kabul and shouted to the crowd “Ya Margh Ya Istiqlal” either death or freedom, launching the Third Afghan-Anglo war of May 1919. Three Afghan columns marched against British India and the Afghans moved down the Khyber Pass gathering tribal support along the way. 

The Jihad had been called on Britain but exhausted by the First World War, Britain found it hard to mobilise the forces it needed. During the first battles of the Third Afghan-Anglo war Britain reeled, abandoning several frontier posts with heavy losses. The Afghans were victorious in Parachinar, Thal and Kurram, with the help of fellow Pashtun tribes but started to face difficulties in Khyber, incurring heavy losses.

Within a month Britain realised that there was little to be gained by war, although many in the British forces were still fantasying about taking their troops all the way to Kabul. But the government of Delhi were resolutely opposed to such an idea; they believed it would take more troops than were present in the whole of India to take Afghanistan effectively. Frustrated by the lack of progress the Raj employed aircraft's for the first time to target the capital. 

Another three months of fighting would incur before Lord Chelmsford met with Amanullah Khan for a peace agreement. In Rawalpindi Amanullah was stripped of his financial subsidy, refused the right of arms shipments from India and forced to yet again re-affirm the permanence of the Durand line. But he won from the British a basic right which Afghanistan had previously been denied as attached to the treaty was a letter that declared Afghanistan “free and independent in its internal and external affairs”. Britain had finally relinquished control of Afghan foreign policy on 19th of August 1919 at the Treaty of Rawalpindi. The irony of the air attacks on the capital so soon after the British Empire had condemned Germany's World war one attacks on London was not lost on the King. "It is a matter of great regret that the throwing of bombs by zeppelins on London was denounced as a most savage act and the bombardment of places of worship and sacred spots was considered a most abominable operation. While we now see with our own eyes that such operations were a habit which is prevalent among all civilized people of the west"

It has now been 93 years since Afghanistan restored its sovereignty over its foreign affairs, yet sadly the country is still ravished by war. However August 1919 still holds a great significance for Afghans today. It is a symbol of their desire for freedom and self determination of their affairs.
The present context of affairs in the country may be blurred with countless internal political disputes and accusations of corruption, but it is a reminder to the people of Afghanistan that only a strong, stable and united country can achieve what it is capable of. That reminder crosses the boundaries set by ethnic or religious lines. 

The vision of Amanullah was a progressive Afghan state. Since the end of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan has been given the opportunity to move towards just that. The freedoms granted to its citizens in its current constitution are the small steps being taken, even with the hiccups. Change however does not take place overnight, it is gradual and the past 11 years have shown greater development in all aspects of Afghan life.

For some though 1919 stands as an example that Afghanistan is still not free from international or regional influences as the relations of the country are mainly based by its alliance with NATO. But in a world that is becoming heavily interdependent, it is an important example for Afghans, that they must understand the need of having allies. 

This however does not mean Afghans should forget their 2,500 years of defiance against conquest and foreign rule. Rather it should put into perspective that Afghanistan will inevitably face difficulties along the way but these difficulties can only be overcome when they are fought together as a collective. Post 2014 will be the biggest test for Afghanistan and this reminder should resonate in the minds of Afghans, then and now during every celebration of Afghanistan’s Independence Day.


The writer is a student of War studies and tweets at @PeymanaAssad