Pakistani Festival Dancers Banned By Religious Group (PHOTOS)

An annual Spring festival in Pakistan's Sindh province has been cut short, from 10 days to only three, following threats from a Taliban affiliate group that has recently increased its presence in the region. The threats are specifically directed towards 18 Pakistani female dancers, whose Sufi music and dance performance is a central feature of the festival. Moreover, the clerics issuing the threats are reported to have been accompanied by provincial police, the BBC reports. More from the BBC:

The clerics who asked the dancers to leave the area were accompanied by local police, witnesses said.

The group, called the JUI-F, has its main support base in the north-west. But the JUI-F (Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazlur) has been spreading its wings in the south of the country as well. The JUI-F is led by cleric Maulana Fazlur Rahman, who is known for his close ties to the Taleban in Afghanistan.

...

The dancers immediately complied with the orders, they said.

Sufi music and dance have been the main features of the festival and organisers said that without this it cannot proceed. The JUI-F ruled North West Frontier Province (NWFP) from 2002 until 2007. During its rule there the party carried out a sustained campaign against musicians, dancers and cable operators in the province and in adjoining tribal areas, forcing most of them either to give up their business or flee into exile.

The annual Spring festival, called Mela Chiraghan, is meant to celebrate the death of a Sufi saint and poet, Shah Hussain. According to the blog Jahane Rumi:

Lahore is celebrating Mela Chiraghan - the death anniversary of the elusive saint Shah Hussain who is also known as Madhu Lal Shah for his life long association with a Hindu disciple called Madhu Lal. Each year in spring the festival of lights is attended by thousands of people.

Lighting of lamps is a metaphor for killing the inner darkness that we live with. By invoking spiritual light through love and self-knowledge, we can overcome ourselves and attain the mystical state of union with the beloved.

Scroll down for photos:

Pakistani folk dancers performing. Pakistani militant groups have been cracking down on musicians, dancers and performers by threatening local police and municipal authorities as they spread south into Sindh and Baluchistan provinces. Passers-by take in the sights of the festival preparations, whereby the streets are adorned with symbolic lamps.

Pakistani Muslims gather around a man holding a trophy as part of a festival event.

Women performing traditional dance in protest at the shrine of Sufi poet Shah Hussain to celebrate Mela Chiraghan.

Comments

[Sikander]

We are not living in normal times so nothing which can be considered normal by international standards is happening in Pakistan. But we shall eventually get out of this mess stronger and better prepared for future. Already we as a nation have achieved two solid victories in last 10 years. First a free, powerful & influential media and second a free Supreme court. I am the first one to admit that parts of both these successes can be eroded quite quickly but it is now impossible for any government military or otherwise to completed roll back these two achievements.

What this picture hints at is mismanagement at many levels but this picture is not the whole story of Pakistan. The full story also has Abdul Sataar Eidhi in it, it has Doctor Abdul Salaam ( a Physics Nobel Laureate) , it has Dr Mahboob Ul Haq ( an Economics Noble Laureate) , it has people who can earn 23 A’s in A’level exmainatins e.t.c. I can go on and on but these are some of the achievements where Pakistanis have surpassed the world so to say that we are only a nation which misgoverns and create problems. No Sir, I don’t agree with this notion.

http://real-politique.blogspot.com

By Sikander Hayat

[vishix]

Thanks for painting that rosy picture, but it's only a facade. Underneath it is the ugly truth of how the military elite is the one running the show. It was the military that stopped Zardari and Sharif showdown. They are the ones that are going to have to come back to power in the near future to prevent a total collapse of Pakistan.

The way the taliban are attacking, the civilian government can't survive. The lawyer movement was a victory, but you have to look at the context. While the lawyer movement was happening, innocent civilians were being bombed by taliban. The lawyer's didn't care. They are part of the elite and are only fighting because their power was threatened. This is the reality facing your nation. There is no desire to help the poor, only to maintain the status quo.

A rich minority rules the entire country. Pakistan will never become rich because it spends all its money on defense. Having a couple of geniuses doesn't change anything either.

My prediction: Civilian government falls to Taliban because of US strikes. Military takes over but still only concentrates on India. Military attacks Taliban half-heartedly. US keeps up drone attacks, maybe even sending troops in because of Pakistani army's failure to control Taliban. Someone attacks India (most likely Taliban). India is fed up and attacks Pakistan.

[gsc 99]

Some of what you say may be true but the reality is that moderates are loosing ground rapidly in Pakistan. Pakistan is soon turning into a nation that is better known haven for terrorists and for exporting terrorism to other countries like Britain and India

In last ten years that you mention:
- Dr. A.Q. Khan has been instrumental in nuclear smuggling.
- Pakistani Army, which remains the strongest entity in Pakistan had grabbed power in a coup from a democratically elected government.
- Daniel Pearl, was beheded. This involved an American, so it became high profile cases, yet engineers and other journalists are murdered quiet often

[vishix]

As some pakistanis say... this is just a healthy debate going on in pakistan..­. kinda like when the nazis were having a healthy debate against the jews.

[TheBlackCat]

This is indeed a shame. The Sufi Muslims are instrumental in combating Islamic fundamentalism.

So sad to see these gentle, joyful people being prohibited simply from expressing their devotion to Islam in a loving and joyful manner.

[DoesItMatter]

One of the things that radical Islam does is strive to cut the strings of people to their local culture and history. Indonesia has been so far blessed.

[drucelt]

As a liberal I fear Muslims a great deal more than I fear the Evangelical right wing...Mus­lim fundamentalist radicals are far more dangerous than all the Michelle Bachman's the neo-cons can muster...

[chickline]

Don't you really have to say that you fear fundamentalist Muslims in the beginning of your statement since not all Muslims are fundamentalists.
The majority of fundamentalists feel that they are right no matter what. It is this hate mongering for anything or anybody other than those professing what they believe, that is very frightening.

[Dolmance]

It takes a lot of disciplined, sober behavior along with some serious sexual morality to create and protect a Third World pit of illiteracy, squalor and injustice.

[thetrajectory]

Why is international community criticizing President Karzai for the recent Sharia law while even more basic liberties of the Pakistani women are in jeoprady. http://thetrajectory.com/blogs/?p=380

[sheilaofmiami]

this is as bad as the marriage rape law. Here we have the taliban telling the local Hindu people they cannot practice THEIR religion. The dancers may well have run off to avoid the taliban, who probably want to force marriage on them so they can be raped for years to come.

This is as horrid as the rest of what the taliban does. AND IT IS NOT MUSLIM, IT IS NOT ISLAM!!!!

[Mezcalero]

The people are Sufi Muslims, not Hindus.

[Archivist1000]

What a nightmare for these people!

So now it's either DANCE and be beaten/imprisoned or COMPLY and let the Taliban win.

Pakistan owes this nightmare to bush&co. If they hadn't been so intent on attacking Iraq, the job in Afghanistan might have been done properly ... If they hadn't been catering to Musharef's demands, the Taliban wouldn't have gained a foothold in Pakistan ..

I am so sad for the people of Pakistan who are watching this wave of Taliban barbarism wash over their country from Afghanistan ........ and I am so angry at bush's incompetence, war mongering, bad policies and most of all, his cowardice!

[moflard]

Pakistan in PART owes this mess to Bush and Co., but they have also created it themselves. For years they encouraged funded and trained the Taliban and other extremist groups. They are now unfortunately reaping the whirlwind.

[DoesItMatter]

It is just not Bush. One needs to go back further in to the Cold war history. Blaming Bush is just an easy route to take.

[JerryLevy]

For devout Muslims, it is illegal and immoral to even have fun. Out with music, dancing, acting, festivals, and parties. Sharia law makes the middle ages look like a party. I hope this is reported in our main stream press. Everyone should know what type of life we would have under a Saudi style of Taliban government. Some actually think there could be a good side to these people.

[longtimegone]

Your final sentence is a Bushism": "Some have said...", never identifying the "some", while saddling "them" with a set of dubious propositions which are easily defeated . I've yet to read support for the Taliban by posters of any persuasion. Your first sentence is either patently absurd, or only "snarky", but in either case, uninformed, at best, malicious, more likely. Shariah law has no single interpretation, nor a single mode of implementation; probably less than one in ten who use it as synonymous with "dark and evil" have any idea of what they saying. "What type of life we would have under a Saudi style of Taliban government" is a red herring: neither the Saudis nor the Taliban will govern us, nor seek to. The times are appalling enough without creating needless fears. Every religion has risen to a pinnacle and then fallen into forms of decay; that does not belie the essential truths at their core, recoverable by honest seekers. The fact that formalists, who have never tasted the sweetness of any particular teaching, turn the religion into a scourge or punishing agent, does not invalidate this truth. The Wahhabism of the Saudi kingdom is heretical, pure and simple. That many call this fundamentism, when it actually denies the fundamentals of the teaching, continually obscures the hope of meaningful dialogue on these issues. True Islam and the wealth and corruption of the Saudis cannot coexist, thus the devil's brew of pseudo-religious notions they inflict on their citizens.

[JerryLevy]

Yes, I have seen "some" say we should negotiate with the "moderate" Taliban and after 9/11, there was a "peace" demonstration here in CA asking the US to negotiate with the Taliban. These people often say they will fight until they dominate the world. While I do not think they have any hope of doing it, I do believe they can reek havoc on civilization trying. I don't think you can have "meaningful dialogue" with people who are offended at anyone who believes different from them. The Saudis would say their country is "true Islam" so your point is just your opinion.

[Pursuance]

Public dancing, bad. Public beheading, good. Whats next, breathing air is bad, suffocating someone with a plastic bag is good?Oy vey.

[Bearangaria]

Making a joyful noise, the native celebrations of life and light,
are being denied and punished by many regimes in many
countries around the world.
It is in the harsh fanatics interests to increase despair.
Such tactics extinguish individuation and a personal connection
with hope, as well as prayer.
Criminalize joy and you smother hope and promote darkness.
In the dark, thugs rule.