ISLAMABAD: In the words of Pablo Picasso, the purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. It seems that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have to wait for some time to cleanse their souls as artists still fear for their lives.
Many thought the military operations in Federally Administered Tribal Areas and KP would bring a sense of security to artists, but to no avail. Recently, police in the suburbs of Peshawar banned music at weddings, which reflects the situation on the ground.
A sharp decline in cultural activities was seen across the province, especially in Peshawar during the last decade when the militancy was at its peak. Artists either abandoned their profession or went into ‘exile’.
In January 2009, singer-cum-dancer Shabana’s killing in Swat was followed by the murder of Peshawar-based singer Ayman Udas the same year. Also, renowned singer Gulzar Alam quit singing facing threats from militants.
Artists revealed that it’s not only death threats that are forcing them to switch professions, but the attitude of both people and law enforcers which takes its toll. They said that they are regularly bullied and mistreated by law enforcers at checkpoints in Peshawar and other towns of KP late night on their way home from work.
They said that they needed encouragement and support. Blaming the media for the dying of old music, they said that TV channels promote young performers and ignore old artistes.
Gulzar Alam, known for singing Pashto revolutionary songs, said that he left singing after receiving threats from militants.
“I could continue singing despite threats but who to sing for? No one is inviting us anymore for fear of reprisal. The militants have instilled fear in the hearts of people and it would take at least a generation for claiming the creative space lost to the extremist forces in KP,” he lamented.
Alam added that the PTI-led government is better than the previous governments of MMA and ANP, but it is not doing what is required.
“Look I am running a buffalo farm to survive. Many other artistes are doing odd jobs to make both ends meet. The government can at least give jobs to educated artistes in PTV, Radio Pakistan and culture ministries to help them live an honourable life,” he added.
He said, “There was time when people would fix wedding dates after confirming my availability to perform but things have changed since the occurrence of militancy.”
Acknowledging hardships faced by artistes, KP Culture Deputy Director Shahbaz Khan said that things were improving. He said the KP government is pro-arts and is doing what it could within the available resources.
“We are working on a cultural database to do cultural mapping. It would help us collecting data of artists in the KP as well as developing programs for revenue generation,” Khan said.
“The government gave Rs 240,000 grant to each artist but we do not want our artists to be dependent on the government which does not have many resources but create opportunities for them to be self-reliant,” he added. “We have opened Nishtar Hall and Abasin Arts Council which were unfortunately shut down by the MMA government. We also provide all kinds of support for open air events not only to provide opportunities for artists to generate resources but also entertainment for the people of Peshawar.”