Qawwal Sher Miandad was shot while going to a performance in his native district of Faisalabad. His son was also injured while trying to protect his father. The good news is that both are now out of danger and expected to make a full recovery.
Many may see this as a mere robbery as some cash that the troupe were carrying was also taken away. However, when an artiste is thus treated in a society like ours, it raises more questions than most are willing to answer honestly.
All his life, especially in the last two decades, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan faced death threats. That was not because he was making a lot of money and the potential looters had their eye on his increasing wealth. They were furious about what he sang and rendered and wanted to eliminate him for that.
From time to time, there are reports in the media about vocalists and actresses being killed or assaulted. Recently, it was reported that Lubna, known by her stage name of Gulalai, was tortured to death in Mardan. Earlier, one Lalia, too, was treated likewise. Not long ago, Resham Khan was shot dead as indeed was Lubna Javed, a reputable vocalist of Pashto music. Usually, such crimes are attributed to either financial deals falling through or something going awry in the arrangement that had been agreed upon.
However, the real reason, a certain prejudice against the arts, especially the performing artistes, has never been brought fully to the fore. The fact is that artistes are particularly vulnerable as they do not get the respect that they deserve. Most women artistes are associated with loose morals. Thus, they are treated by male spectators as if it is their preordained right to have full control over them. The performance is seen as a ruse for something else. This becomes a cause of violence and heavy handedness.
Nobody takes notice of the fatal violence. It is seen as routine or an inevitable professional hazard for these hapless women. The women are particularly vulnerable and are subject to much more violence then men. These cases are often set aside for not being important enough or settled out of court to the convenience of the stronger side.
It is very difficult for a society to rise above its prejudices. There is such a deep-rooted prejudice against the performing arts and those practicing those that it becomes impossible for them to be seen as normal people. The tag of respectability is attached to some and detached from others. The respectable people are seen in the framework formed through societal approval. Going against the current raises eyebrows and going with the flow is met with tacit approval by the sanctimonious.
In our society, the level of tolerance has really dipped. The members of the opposition are treated as traitors and those who differ with the powerful are banned or eliminated altogether. Our political landscape is full of such happenings and the media is reporting extreme reactions all the time. The lack of tolerance for difference of opinion is like the wild cries of those in the audience watching a gladiatorial fight to the death.
However, reason remains far away from an order that thrives on incitement of passion. All acts are seen to be justified by the passions that they arouse and all values seen as sacrosanct that can do so. Reason is the biggest casualty in this and seen as either a tool of cowardice or a retreat and an alibi for face saving.
Qawwali became very popular form among the middle classes during the 1970s. Traditionally it has been a popular form but limited to the sufi shrines. The qawwals were and mostly are hereditary musicians, well-versed in the virtuosities and niceties of music. Some of the qawwals became great gawayyas (singers) in the past centuries, like Bare Muhammad Khan and Tanras Khan.
The acceptance of qawwali by the audiences in France led to the social revamping of the form by the audiences back home. Sabri brothers and then Nusrat Fateh Ali were praised by the West and that rebounded to resonate in the same manner back home. Qawwals became an integral part of social gatherings with their performances necessary to round off the show.
To many the midway point of acceptance of music, too, was important because it was a handmaiden to religion. The guilt associated with music was assuaged by bringing it under the umbrella of religious music, no matter how liberally interpreted.
Those in Sher Maindad’s generation have been beneficiaries of this development.
Every new political set up talks about the welfare of the artistes and some funds are set aside for helping them out but it appears that providing security, not only financial but also physical, should also be considered seriously. The vulnerability of the artistes is reinforced by the social prejudices and the police we all know treat them as if they were responsible for the crime. Victim-blaming is routine when such an incident happens. As some changes are being made in others areas, the artistes, too, need protection and some thought should be devoted to that end, rather than just considering and dismissing such incidents as professional hazard.
The writer is a culture critic based in Lahore.