Daily Times

20-year-old Sadia Shah sings in the famous Banr market of Swat district and hopes to build a career in this profession but memories of violence from the days of Taliban are still fresh in her mind. Sadia was only 10-year-old when militant forces arrived in the Valley. At that time, she had just started her music training from her teacher Umar Khan. When the Taliban captured the Valley, they banned music and dance in the Banr market. “They distributed pamphlets which read that music and dance is a great sin in the laws of Islam,” said a teary eyed Sadia in a frail voice. Those were the bloody days of Swat when militants kept slaughtering people on the Bloody square, the famous place in Mingora city where relatives came and collected the bodies of the dead. “I never forget the days when the state machinery was disabled and people were helpless with what was going on inside the valley. Our lives were on risk because Banr was famous for its singing and dancing, and there was news all over that they would blow up our houses as soon as the CD shops were destroyed inside the markets. We, along with our kids, started our migration to Peshawar on foot as the paradise valley turned to a violent blood bath. I still remember those moments when I said good bye to my music and the streets where I passed the golden days of my childhood. I was hopeless that I would never return to my area and my dreams of becoming a famous singer were gone just like my neighbours Nazia Iqbal and Ghazala Javed,” Sadia added.

Swat, the cradle of great civalizations remained a princely state from 1926-47 under the British government of India. After the departure of the British, Swat status was semi-autonomous within the newly founded Pakistan; it completely merged in Pakistan in 1969 in the Yahya Khan regime. Queen Elizabeth II referred to Swat as ‘East Switzerland’ on her visit to the valley. The region witnessed various political, cultural and religious ups and downs in its history, all the way from a princely state to Zia’s regime and from the Sufi Mohammad Movement in 1994 to the TTP chapter in 2007.

“We moved to Karachi from Peshawar and were living in a rented house, but our business was paralysed there and we kept receiving news of how our paradise had turned into a hell hole of violence,” said Sadia Shah.

In the tenure of the MMA government in the Frontier, now KP, from 2002-08, cinema and exhibition centers were set on fire, and bill boards with images of women were smashed. Before 9/11, religious seminaries were less in number but till 2005 they reached to a total of 225, comprising thousands of students. The MMA tenure damaged the rich culture of Swat, and the only center of culture, Nishtar hall in Peshawar, closed due to speculations of the so called fahashis by the government.

Kainat, another dancer in Banr, lives in a house of two rooms where she spends most of her time waiting for visitors to attend her performances so she can earn a living for her kids, but very few visit these historical streets now, due to fear of police harassment.

It was on a cold winter night when 50 to 60 masked militants armed with guns entered Banr and cordoned off Shabana’s house. She kept crying as the masked men dragged her from the leg and beat her up brutally, we were helpless and could just watched the heart-wrenching view from the windows of our houses. No one dared to save her. Early in the morning her body was found dumped at the bloody chowk of Mingora

Kainat says she can never forget those nights when the Taliban announced on the radio that music and dance is haram and the root of all sins, and those who dared to play music will have their fingers chopped off; our music instruments were doused with petrol infront of our eyes and we were hopeless. The only hope of courage for all artists was Shabana, my music teacher, who refused to stop dancing and doing music, and eventually left the native area of Banr. The Taliban would send letters to us to leave the profession but Shabana never accepted these threats. It was on a cold winter’s night at 12 AM when 50 to 60 masked militants armed with guns entered Banr and cordoned off Shabana’s house. She kept crying as the masked men dragged her from the leg and beat her with a strip while we all watched the heart wrenching view from the windows of our house. No one in the community dared to save her from them and early in the morning her body was recovered from the bloody chowk, riddled with bullets in the chest, mouth and head. She was the only symbol of courage for all the girls in the valley. After her death and due to threats to our own life, we had to leave Swat. But I still always remember the face of my teacher riddled with bullets.

Swat was a state with a vibrant cultural scene during the time of Wali Mian Gul Jehanzeb, the Ruler of Swat. He allocated land to the local musicans and artists in the heart of Mingora bazar and married a dancer girl, showing the deep spirit of his romance with music and dance. Zia’s regime, the movement of Sufi Mohammad: Tehreek Nifaze Sharia (TNSM), the MMA government from 2002-08 in the Frontier and the Taliban insurgents in 2007, badly destroyed the socio cultural fabric of Swat District. According to the people of Banr, there were more than 80 families linked to dance and music but now it has gone down to 25 as most of them left the profession or migrated to other parts of the country.

In 2007 the son in law of Sufi Muhammad Maulana Fazlullah known as FM Maulana appeared in Swat and started violent activites in the sorrundings; he was released from prison in 2008 after some agreements.

Usman Ulas Yar, a historian and writer in Swat narrated how the rich culture of Swat badly suffered at the hands of the MMA government. Dancers and musicians faced harassment from the police on a daily basis and the arrestment of Banr people created a vaccum for the radicalized to criticize its dancing girls. Dance and music were discouraged in public places as well as in modes of transport. The insurgents’ tenure was a disaster for the cultural place with musicians, dancers, poets and peace activists targeted very violently. “They blew up our schools, historical sites and even carried out suicide blasts in funeral congregations. It was a time of Barbarism for Swat. But Banr birthed legandaries like film hero Badar Munir and Pashto melody singers Mashooq Sultana, Bacha Zarin, Qamro Jana, Nazia Iqbal and Ghazala Javed, and will be remembered for decades in the history of Pashto folklore.”

FM Radio was a strong source in Swat and through it violent teachings were preached openly. Spreading terror in the hearts of the people and attracting the youth with hardline techniques to join the movement for implementing Sharia, was commonplace.

The government signed a peace agreement in 2009 with the insurgents in the form of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. This led the insurgents to move to the valley of Buner and Lower Dir. Mir Bashir Bilour led talks from the government’s side while Maulana Fazlullah with TTP spokesman Musliman Khan lead the the insurgents’ side. A 15-point agreement was calibrated with the government implementing Sharia law in Malakand division and withdrawing all cases against the Taliban. Maulana Fazlullah was allowed to run the sharia movement and his seminary at the Imam Dherai which served as his main headquarters, was converted to an Islamic university amongst many other points included in the agreement. Interestingly, the commissioner of the area, Syed Javeed, visited the Imam Dherai seminary every week to offer the Friday prayers led by Maulana.

The international community expressed reservations claiming that the agreement would strengthen violent masses across the border. After some time when the agreement failed the army started operation Rah-e-Rast in 2009 against the insurgents; millions of people become internally displaced in the country and shifted to Peshawar and other regions. Terrorism was brought to an end in the area and most of the insurgents were killed, arrested or moved elsewhere. However according to Dilawar, a resident of Banr area who manages musical and dance nights for people, militants ended up moving from here but their legacy still remains. He said he still remembers those days when militants were slaughtering and hanging people in Swat. “We were happy that the area is now clean of all terrorists but the legacy of the militants is still found here. I always manage gatherings in the nights for guests in Banr, but one night the police raided my house and arrested me. They badly tortured me in custody and asked me why I was promoting fahashi in the area. They even sent a notice to the school where my kids were studying to have them kicked out of there. Now I have no source of income and my children have been compromised on their education. I left Banr valley due to continued harrasment from the police authorities.” It’s still so strange to Dilawar that the police are acting out as uniformed Taliban banning music and dance.

Music nights in Banr occasionally take place once a month and only facilitate a few known faces. Before the militancy, dancers performed everywhere but now only limit themselves to the main city of Swat, Mingora, and come before 12 AM due to the existing threat from various elements, according to Shabana, another dancer in the area.

Before the militancy, dancers performed everywhere but now they limit their activities to the main city of Swat, Mingora, and come before 12am

Banr was a name of respect and honour for its people. According to a 70-year-old dancer, Zmarud, as she witnessed the tenure of Wali Sahib in Swat, she stated that dance and music were respected in that time – people respected the profesion and were not thirsty for the bodies of the dancers. There is a lot of difference between Wali Sahib’s time and the present day because now people use wine and other drugs in the nights. Thus, muscians and dancers face harrasments.

Swasto Art and Culture Association head, Usman Olasyar also agreed with this argument and said that due to the war, the owners of Banr faced poverty and other economic vulnerabilities, and, thus, dancing and singing was no longer considered a respectable profession. Now, musicans and dancers suffer harassment and are often faced with embarassing situations when visitors mistake them as prostitutes.

While Zia era has been over since long, the MMA tenure has also ended, and the chapter of the Taliban has been closed, but clouds of extremism, and hate for musicians and dancers in the streets of Banr still exist, which is a clear sign of the country’s direction in the future. Among artists Swat lost during Taliban’s draconian rule were harmonium player Anwar Gul and Ghazala Javed (she was mudered in Peshawar). Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai was also shot in the head in the Valley when she was on her way home from school.

Declaring Banr as a music institution once again, is a big challenge for the government and cultural departments of the country.

The writer is a freelance journalist working in FATA, KP and Balochistan

Published in Daily Times, December 4^th 2017.