* Secret parties defy conservative trend
* Attended by tiny, Westernised minority
* But majority oppose Taliban brand of conservatism
By Anam Zehra
ISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Women in short skirts and men
with gelled hair bump and grind on a dance floor as a disc
jockey pumps up the volume. The air is thick with illicit smoke
and shots of hard liquor are being passed around. Couples cuddle
and kiss in a lounge.
This is not Saturday night at a club in New York, London or
Paris. It is the secret side of Pakistan, a Muslim nation often
described in the West as a land of bearded, Islamic hardmen and
repressed, veiled women.
Pakistan was created out of Muslim-majority areas in
colonial India 65 years ago, and for decades portrayed itself as
a progressive Islamic nation. Starting in the 1980s, however, it
has been drifting towards a more conservative interpretation of
Islam that has reshaped the political landscape, fuelled
militancy and cowed champions of tolerance into silence.
But the country remains home to a large wealthy and
Westernised elite that, in private, lives very differently.
Every weekend, fashion designers, photographers, medical
students and businessmen gather at dozens of parties in
Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore to push social boundaries in
discreet surroundings that would horrify, and enrage, advocates
of the stricter brand of Islam.
“This is just epic,” said Numair Shahzada, bobbing his head
to the beat at a party in a farmhouse outside Islamabad as
fitness instructors moonlighting as bouncers looked on. “The
light and smoke show is phenomenal.”
Young men and women mix freely, dancing, talking or
drinking. Some curl up together in quiet areas.
Although alcohol is prohibited in the country, many have
brought their own liquor. Whisky is carried in paper bags and
vodka is disguised in water bottles arranged along the dance
floor.
The party-goers form only a tiny minority of the country’s
180 million people, but overall, Pakistan is not repressive.
Women can drive, are enrolled in universities and have played
prominent roles in politics. Unmarried men and women can
interact without risking the wrath of religious police.
People from its most populous province, Punjab, are renowned
for their exuberance.
But a conservative form of Islam is chipping away at the
tolerance.
A few hours drive from Islamabad’s party circuit, parts of
remote tribal regions have fallen under the sway of hardline
Taliban militants, who dream of toppling the U.S.-backed
government and creating a society where revellers would face
flogging, or worse.
“Men and women who dance together are damned by God.
Whenever we see such displays of vulgarity we will definitely
make them a target,” said a senior Taliban commander.
News reports have said a tribal council in a village near
the Afghanistan border ordered four women killed earlier this
year for clapping and singing as men danced at a wedding. The
Supreme Court has ordered an investigation, but there have been
no further details.
CREEPING CONSERVATISM
While the vast majority of Pakistanis abhor the Taliban’s
violence, there are many who share their belief that Islam
should be Pakistan’s guiding force. Religious parties, which do
poorly at the polls but exert considerable sway over public
debate, believe Islam should govern all spheres of life.
“It’s so messed up,” said Myra, a 23-year-old Pakistani who
has dyed her hair reddish-brown.
“You see the servants and the drivers at the parties watching
you and you wonder what kind of a person they think you are.”
To avoid prying eyes, the kind of alcohol-fuelled blow-outs
enjoyed by Myra and her friends are held in lonely farm-houses
in the outskirts of Islamabad and other cities, or in affluent
neighbourhoods behind high walls. Organisers charge on average a
$60 entry fee, an amount most Pakistanis earn in a month.
Rafia, petite with long, black hair and wearing tight jeans
and a low-cut black blouse, is a regular on the party scene.
She frowns on women who carry secret cell phones unmonitored
by their parents and wear revealing outfits under conservative
dress that come off before getting on the dance floor.
“You can either be God-fearing or you can party,” she said,
taking a drag on a marijuana joint at a recent rave.
“I don’t pray regularly and I usually stick to my fast. But
at the end of the day, I don’t say I am a very religious
person.”
Not everyone agrees.
Bina Sultan, 40, an attractive fashion designer, showcases
nude paintings and topless male models in shows. She also wears
a silver pendant engraved with a verse from the Koran.
“People think I am shameless but I am actually very
religious,” she said at her studio, peppering her sentences with
“jaani”, Urdu for darling, while chain smoking.
“My faith is very strong. But everything I do is between my
God and me.”
LONELY LIBERALS
Conservatism began sweeping through Pakistan during the
military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the
1980s under a drive to Islamize the state.
Zia’s policies are widely blamed for a creeping culture of
intolerance that has further isolated liberals.
In an incident that traumatised the elite, the governor of
Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was assassinated by his own
bodyguard last year for opposing harsh anti-blasphemy laws.
The reaction was almost more shocking to liberals than the
murder itself. Clerics organised huge rallies to praise the
killer. Even lawyers, once at the vanguard of Pakistan’s
democracy movement, showered him with rose petals.
In the growing climate of fear, the space for liberal voices
is shrinking.
Pakistani rapper Adil Omar, who attends weekend parties,
pokes fun of the Taliban and rising conservatism in his songs.
But he never goes too far.
“A lot of people seem to be torn and seem to have an
identity crisis,” said Omar, who wears the traditional flowing
shirt and baggy trousers. His elaborate forearm tatoo featuring
a semi-naked woman and a unicorn has drawn fire on his Facebook
page from some fans who see it as an offence to Islam.
“I am careful not to give any opinions regarding religion
on the record,” he said, adding: “I don’t want some crazy person
chopping off my head.”
(Editing by Michael Georgy and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
