Gulzar Alam's notes of defiance

The Pakistani singer Gulzar Alam lives in fear of the Taliban but refuses to flee the country or give up his passion for music, despite three attempts on his life.

Pakistani singer Gulzar Alam sings at his residence in Peshawar. Alam has survived three attempts on his life and moves regularly to keep one step ahead of Taliban.

ISLAMABAD // The Pakistani singer Gulzar Alam lives in fear of militants but refuses to flee the country or give up his passion for music.

"I will live here. I will die here. I will keep singing to promote love and peace," the popular Pashto singer said on Saturday in Peshawar.

Like others associated with the music and entertainment industry in Pakistan's north-west, Alam has been in danger since the rise of Islamist militancy in the country following the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001.

Militants have tried to kill Alam, 52, three times and he says he is still receiving threats to stop singing.

Several of his fellow artists have given up their professions and others have fled abroad. However, he has vowed to stay put, despite offers for political asylum in other countries, including the United States

"One night, I consulted my wife about whether she wants to go abroad [in asylum] or live here and we both decided that we will live here for the sake of our culture and values," he said.

Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic group in Pakistan's north-west and in Afghanistan. A large number of Pashtuns also live in the south-western Baluchistan province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, as well as in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

Music has always been an integral part of Pashtun culture.

Pashtun men used to gather in hujras – guest rooms – in the houses of tribal elders where they held their tribal jirgas, or meetings to settle disputes, and also listen to poetry recitations and music.

But since the rise of Islamist extremism in Pakistan in the early 2000s, the hujras have been rarely used for such events.

Alam once performed at wedding parties and cultural functions late into the night – but today, such appearances are rare, he said.

"People are scared of holding such parties even in the daytime, let alone ... holding them in the night," the singer said.

"You never know if someone has planted a bomb in the hujra. That's why people don't hold such events in hujras," he added.

After pro-Taliban groups rose to power in the region in 2002, riding a wave of anti-American sentiment, the ruling Islamists banned music on public transport. Other militants were more brutal. They bombed music shops in their strongholds in the tribal areas on the Afghan border. These attacks spread across the towns and cities of the region.

A few years ago, armed Taliban fighters roamed the streets of Peshawar in vehicles warning music-shop owners to close their stores or face the consequences.

During this time, militants tried to run over Alam with a car, forcing him to move for four years to the south-western city of Quetta.

But Alam considers himself lucky. Several others artists fell foul of the Taliban's morality squads and suffered much worse fates.
In 2009, a popular female dancer called Shabana was dragged out into the street in Swat, a valley about 130 kilometres north of the capital, Islamabad, and shot dead. Her body was hung from an electricity pylon as a warning to other artists who dared to defy militants.

The same year, gunmen tried to kill Pashtun singer Sardar Yousafzai in neighbouring Dir district as he was returning home after performing at a wedding party. He escaped unhurt but his harmonium player was killed in the attack.

The situation for performers began to improve after secular parties came to power in the north-west by defeating Islamist groups in the 2008 elections and the Pakistani military launched offensives driving militants out of Swat and several other tribal regions on the Afghan border in 2009. In 2010, the provincial government led by the Awami National Party, a Pashtun nationalist group, reopened Nishtar Hall – Peshawar's main hub for cultural activities, which was closed by the Islamist coalition.

The government has also tried to encourage entertainers to continue their activities despite militant threats. "We have invited the Pashto artists who have left the Khyber Pakhtoonkhuwa [province] to return and resume their activities," said the provincial information minister, Mian Iftikhar Hussain.

"We have to outfight militants with our courage. We know there are threats but we have to defy these threats," said Mr Hussain, an outspoken anti-Taliban politician whose son was gunned down by the militants a few years ago.

Sarfraz Khan, president of the United Trade Union of the shops who sell Pashto music and drama CDs in Peshawar, said businesses have been hurt by militant threats but passion for Pashto persisted.

"The people are already depressed. They are now listening to more music to get rid of their depression," he said. "Music is in the soul of the people. It will never die."

Alam, who is now working as a music director with a local television station, said he was optimistic about the future of Pashto music.

"I believe this phase of insecurity and threats is temporary. A positive change has to be brought and we will bring it. I have not lost hope," he said.