Sufi ‘Mystic Music’ festival to be held from 30th

LAHORE: Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop on Tuesday announced holding its annual Mystic Music Sufi Festival 2009 from April 30 to May 2.

Talking to reporters, the Peerzada brothers said this was the 6th annual Sufi Festival organised by Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop. The festival brings with it a rich variety of Sufi music from across the country. Performers from all four provinces will take part in the festival and over 300 artists will perform. “Through the Sufi Festival, we look forward to highlighting the cultural and traditional warmth and wisdom of Sufi poetry,” said Faizan Peerzada. “We are hopeful that such festivals will bless all of us with tolerance, wisdom and a light leading to a new direction,” he added.

“NO’ Talibanisation

Daily Times Report

LAHORE: A large number of people gathered on The Mall on Tuesday to protest against Talibanisation and posted a letter to the president, prime minister (PM), chief of army staff (COAS), and chief justice (CJ), demanding action against the spread of Taliban power. Protesters included human rights activists, artists, students, journalists, teachers and representatives of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Participants of the protest said the citizens were concerned about the state of their homeland.

Is Pakistan collapsing? A father and a citizen speaks

By Ali Dayan Hasan

At my daughter’s annual school parent’s day event in Lahore last month, the tension was palpable. Bewildered at the speed with which this innocuous annual event had transformed into a maximum security operation, anxious parents filed in their hundreds past security guards, metal detectors and bag searches into Theatre Number Two of the Alhamra Cultural Complex – a modernist structure that the citizens of Lahore would tell you proudly is amongst the largest public-funded exhibition and theatre complexes in Asia. They were there to see their children, none older than seven, perform the usual amalgam of tableaux on “Peoples and Festivals of the World”, a smattering of Kathak – a North Indian classical dance, a “Chinese dance” performance and, of course, my daughter’s favorite – a Disney-esque version of the Bangles hit – “Walk Like an Egyptian.” The event began, as always, with recitation from the Quran. Tense primary school teachers grappled with security issues and as I walked in; a very public stand-off between a security posse comprising teachers, local police and plain clothes personnel and a random man who was on the premises for “no known reason” was underway. The man was eventually deemed harmless and let go but there was no parent who entered that hall without making note of the exits. Two hours later, as we filed out, I and virtually every relieved parent thought and said the same thing: “One more year like the last one and next year there will be no Parents Day. Another month or two like the previous ones and there might be no school left open.”

Since December 27, 2007 – the dreadful winter’s day when streets across Pakistan fell silent in the aftermath of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistanis have understood and expressed in varying degrees, or disagreed in desperate denial, that the Islamization project unleashed by the United States and implemented by the Pakistani military since 1979 had turned on its creators, snarling at the United States, devouring Pakistan and exposing its army for the megalomaniac but intensely incompetent institution that it is. And the narrative of impending disaster, brutal dispossession and disembodied lives in exile for stateless citizens harking back pathetically to a lost life, hitherto the preserve of Palestinians and Cubans, Afghans, Somalis and the ethnic mosaic of the Balkans, beckons to Pakistanis as well. One could argue that Pakistanis are scared of a future comprising daily doses of floggings, beheadings, daisy cutters and drones. They might be too. But no one has had time to think that far ahead. The truth is more prosaic: After all, if your children cannot go to school, the future has ceased to be. And when societies cannot have a future, they die.

The Historian – Online Journal of Government College University, Pakistan

Raza Rumi

Many months ago I received this link to the online journal of the Government College University, Lahore. It has an impressive editorial board and the editor, Tahir Kamran, is a respected historian whose efforts and contributions to revive the near-dead discipline of history deserve more than appreciation.

The said issue of The Historian has diverse articles including On the Making of Muslims in India Historically and Evolution and Impact of Deobandi Islam in the Punjab. And, there are some brilliant book reviews as well. The book that interested me were Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and M.J. AKBAR’s, Blood Brothers: A Family Saga.

I was once a student at this institution albeit for a year only. After years of state control, the recent reforms have improved the quality of instruction and of course the management. Thus the glorious tradition of the Government College shall not wane despite the awful stateof education that haunts Pakistan.

Do visit the website and browse through the pieces if history is your cup of tea.

Taliban spotted in Lahore??

I was wondering if this news item sent to me by Google’s numerous and fascinating services was true. If yes, very scary for us Lahoris. Raza Rumi

Lahore: The Swat Taliban continues to tighten its grip over new areas of Lahore after Shangla and Buner.

According to the sources, Taliban were seen walking towards Lahore railway station.

Earlier, Taliban commander Jawed declared that couples seen in city parks would be killed on the spot. He also called for closuer of English medium schools in the city.

Taliban commander Muslim Khan said, ‘We would go and operate everywhere people call us.’

These Taliban walking on the roads of the city have ‘Taliban Of North Waziristan’ written on themselves.

Security was beefed up in city parks and schools following the warning from the trouble makers.

Lahore stays linked to its past

By Ramachandra Guha

Published: April 18 (Financial Times)

Badshahi Mosque

I first visited Lahore in 1995, illegally. I was attending a conference in Islamabad, and had a visa for that city alone. But I was determined to get to Lahore. I had grown up in a town in north India inundated with refugees from Pakistan’s Punjab. The fathers of my friends had all been educated in Lahore, and spoke in elegiac tones about its colleges, parks, theatres and shops. A book they passed lovingly from hand to hand was Pran Neville’s Lahore: A Sentimental Journey, an account of a sensuous and even sybaritic city, whose residents – at least in this telling – were preoccupied with the pleasures of clothes, food, music and sex.

Speaking of the 1930s, Neville wrote that “Lahore was famous for its sexologists, mostly [Hindu] vaids and [Muslim] hakims. They promised sexual prowess to all those who could afford their expensive formulations, which had ingredients like gold, silver, pearls and rare herbs.”

It’s Time for Critical Mass Lahore

The last Sunday of the month is approaching, and so it’s time for Critical Mass. I can’t speak for the others (though I know many share this view), but getting on our cycles and going onto the streets of Lahore sends a powerful message: That the streets are open spaces; that men, women and children can enjoy the city and its many delights safely and without fear of molestation; that cycling is a viable form of transport; that the way our cities are managed is deplorable; and that, most of all, we are having fun in our own city and in our own country.

Come join the Critical Mass on Sunday. All you’ll need is a road worthy cycle and a sense of adventure. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Taliban, terrorism stifle life in Lahore

Ayesha Nasir THE WASHINGTON TIMES

LAHORE, Pakistan | Fear of Taliban rules and retribution has descended on this cosmopolitan city near the Indian border, with militants taking aim at fashion shows, nightclubs, sports and other entertainment that made Lahore the cultural capital of Pakistan.

With recent terrorist attacks and more subtle threats from black-bearded strangers in turbans and skullcaps, the city’s artists and performers have stopped appearing in public. University coeds are being warned to cover their faces, and merchants are pulling CDs and DVDs from store shelves.

Lahore’s symbol of Kashmiri heritage

Shivala of Raja Dina Nath Madan

By Dr. B.N. Sharga

Lahore now in Pakistan is a very old historic city. According to a legend this city on the bank of river Ravi was founded by Luv the son of Lord Ram the hero of Hindu epic Ramayana. But according to Cunningham the ruins of Amba Kapi indicate that Lahore city was probably founded around first century A.D. The Chinese traveller Hieun Tsiang who visited this place in 630 A.D. describes it as a large Brahmanical city.

At the end of the 10th century the kingdom of Lahore was in the hands of a Brahman dynasty and in 988 A.D. its ruler Jai Pal was defeated by Sabaktagin. But Lahore at that time was not an important city so much so that Mahmood of

Down memory lane

S.M. AAMIR (Hindu)

Making history: Satyawati, the oldest surviving freedom fighter, aged 104.

August 26, 5.00 p.m., 1942: It is Raksha Bandhan Day. Young Satyawati was in the famous Anarkali Bazaar in Lahore. It was to be her last free journey for some time. The Quit India movement was at its peak and the British forces were targeting Indians, often throwing them into prison for any act of defiance. Satyawati — and

Lahori civil society speaks

Zinda dilaan-e-Lahore say no to Talibanisation, reports Raza Rumi

Never before have we citizens been traumatised with an uncertain future and the knocks of destruction at our door as is the case in the year 2009. The celebrated twenty first century has, if nothing else, blown the contradictions of Pakistani society and state right into our faces. One hundred and eighty million people cannot be spectators to the imperial great games and a callous state that gropes in the dark trying to locate the ‘enemy’ outside, instead of looking into its own crevices and cracks.

Not that Lahore has been a haven of peace in recent years – the inequities, the crime levels have been on the rise. However, March 2009 witnessed two

Besakhi Mela and 540th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

Besakhi Mela and 540th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak: Security risks reduce number of Sikh yatris

Daily Times Report

LAHORE: Following security threats, only 310 Sikh yatris (pilgrims) arrived at the Wagha railway station on Saturday for a ten-day visit to participate in the Besakhi Mela and the 540th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak at Panja Sahib (Hasanabdal), Nankana Sahib and Dera Sahib (Lahore).

Good Friday in Lahore

From BBC

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Christian believers around the world have been holding services to mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Here, Pakistani Christians are pictured at a service in Lahore.

First Pakistani Jesuit ordained in Lahore

He is Fr. John, who joins two other priests of the Society present in Pakistan. Fr. Zeechin, the local superior of the congregation, says “he can be a good example in the community by supporting our charisma, mainly in education, catechism and interfaith dialogue.”

Lahore (AsiaNews/UCAN) – The first Pakistani Jesuit. He is Fr. Imran John, 33, ordained on March 28 in the cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Lahore. About 40 priests, both diocesan and members of the Society, took part in the ordination of the new priest, presided over by the archbishop of Lahore, Lawrence John Saldanha.

Faiz Ghar activities

Schedule for Faiz Ghar activities.

April /May/June 2009.

Urdu Baithak/Sing along sessions

‘Story hour’ for children 5 years and above.

Time: Every Sunday from 5.00 to 6.00 pm

Storytellers: conducted alternatively by Mr. Shoaib Hashmi, Dr. Arfa Syeda, Mr. Naveed Riaz, Mrs. Salima Hashmi, Mrs. Moneeza Hashmi and others

This will be followed by a sing along session with Ms. Zara David on keyboard.

Fees: No registration or fees. Come one, come all.

Nadeem Aslam reading from The Wasted Vigil

The Wasted Vigil is Nadeem Aslam’s third and most powerful novel yet. It follows the lives of five damaged souls dealing with the repercussions of the “War on Terror” in later day Afghanistan. A work of deepest humanity, “The Wasted Vigil” offers a timely portrait of this region, of love during war and conflict. At once angry, unflinching and memorably beautiful, it marks Nadeem Aslam as a world writer of major importance.

Nadeem shall be reading from ‘The Wasted Vigil’ and answering your questions at the Sayeed Saigol Auditorium on 10th April between 5-7pm.

This event is being arranged by The Last Word in collaboration with the LUMS Literary Society.

Lahore’s civil society is alive to the threat of extremism

LAHORE, April 4: A large number of rights activists, civil society members, lawyers, workers and students marched on The Mall here on Saturday to condemn terrorism and especially the public flogging of a girl in Swat, vowing to counter Talibanisation and urging the government to refrain from surrendering to terrorists.

Starting from the GPO crossing, the marchers carrying banners and placards raised slogans against those who they said were unleashing a reign of terror in the name of Islam.

Rights activists rap extremists for flogging girl

DAWN, April 4: A large number of rights activists, civil society members, lawyers, workers and students marched on The Mall here on Saturday to condemn terrorism and especially the public flogging of a girl in Swat, vowing to counter Talibanisation and urging the government to refrain from surrendering to terrorists.

Lahore says no to Taliban ‘justice’

* Participants condemn the flogging of a girl by Taliban in Swat
* Citizens from Swat, Gwadar say whole country opposes terrorism

DAILY TIMES Report

LAHORE: Hundreds of citizens from all walks of life marched on The Mall in a peace rally against terrorism on Saturday.

Lahore Protest – Over 2000 against Talbanisation

Report by Farooq Tariq

Over 2000 joined a rally in Lahore against Talbanisation and terrorism. The rally was organized by Citizens of Lahore, a loose platform of different social, political and trade unions organization. The rally started from General Post Office Chouck (GPO) and ended at Charing Cross on Mall Road Lahore. Majority of the participants were women and youth.

Slogans like “No to Talbanisation, no to terrorism, stop flogging women, behind terrorism is uniform, are dying of hunger because General Head Quarters (GHQ) is taking it all, no to religious fundamentalism, no to state terrorism, we want peace, people united will never be defeated” were raised by the participants.