<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" version="2.0"><channel>
                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
                        <atom:link href="https://tribune.com.pk/feed/nairang" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
                        <link>https://tribune.com.pk/feed/nairang</link>
                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
                        <lastBuildDate>Wed, 10 Jun 26 00:44:23 +0500</lastBuildDate>
                        <language>en-US</language>
                        <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
                        <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
                        <generator>https://laravel.com/</generator><item>
			<title>Nairang: Art under fire</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/233567/art-under-fire</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/233567/art-under-fire#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 11 14:58:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sher.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Life &amp; Style]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=233567</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Lahore’s local artist community condemns police violence and extremism.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[An avenue of expression for young, talented painters and artisans, Nairang Art Gallery has recently come under attack for perpetuating a liberal ideology.


The August 2 incident, regarding a police assault on the gallery’s female curator Amal Fatima, a recent graduate from National College of Arts (NCA), captured the attention of the nation. The local art community has condemned the incident and has shown solidarity in what is being looked at as an attack on the city’s creative space. “This is an attempt to spread fear so that the space for expression shrinks,” says former NCA principal Nazish Ataullah.

The art gallery, considered one of Lahore’s few prominent cultural hubs, has also become a hangout spot for local intelligentsia, writers, and artists. Some of the frequent visitors include Urdu writer Intezaar Hussain, human rights activist IA Rahman, politician Dr Mubashir Hasan, artists Quddus Mirza, Pirzada Najam, Arif Khan and Salima Hashmi.

“There is a streak of liberalism when one talks about Nairang,” says Nayyar Ali Dada, renowned architect and founder of the gallery. “However, I assume this is not a popular place in the eyes of the establishment.”

According to Dada, SHO of the Shadman police station, Rana Zulfiqar created a scene after a lady outside the gallery took some time to park her car. Following that, the police official barged into the gallery on the pretext that shisha was being served at the gallery. According to eye witnesses, the senior official first picked on a couple and questioned why they were sitting together, deeming their interaction ‘un-Islamic’. Later, he barged into a rehearsal of a Khattak dance performance and assaulted the female curator of the gallery, while also labelling her ‘fahash’.

Dada is shocked that the gallery, known for promoting a staunchly liberal and progressive atmosphere, has come under threat. “Artists in Ziaul Haq’s era were stifled, but the PPP is known for its liberal stance so it’s a little surprising.” However, he is quick to add that the “lower-stratum of society is changing and turning more and more towards extremism”.

Dada confirmed that two separate inquiries had been lodged, with one been handled by the chief minister and the other by the police. Dada added that the SHO has been captured and is being held as the main culprit, while it still remains to be seen what action is taken.

Waves of protest

The reaction to the news of the assault saw several protests in major cities including Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The spread of the news was aided by the social media which has seen several Facebook pages and Twitter chains create a buzz.

Political economist and activist Feryal Ali Gauhar, who also has been a regular at the Lahore Bachao Tehreek (LBT) at Nairang, says; “I don’t leave the house as often because women and minorities are increasingly marginalised,” says Gauhar.

Meanwhile, reputed artist Dr Ejaz Anwar also called for the need to rise against such an ideology that seeks to justify abusing a woman on the excuse of vulgarity. “The reaction has been very organised and that shows how serious the issue really is,” says Anwar. “I think it’s clear that this form of high-handedness has to be challenged.”

Quddus Mirza, a renowned artist and teacher, points out that this was an attack more on personal space than on the arts. “In principle, the police do not have a right to intrude like this and the incident deserves direct condemnation.” He also stresses that it’s important to ask whether the SHO was directing the aggression at the cafe or the art. “I think that they have mindset against male and females sitting together. Therefore, the incident is the epitome of human rights violation.”

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/233567-art-1313592882/233567-art-1313592882.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>Incident at a gallery</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/226822/incident-at-a-gallery</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/226822/incident-at-a-gallery#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Aug 11 15:42:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=226822</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It seems our police, which have taken upon itself the kind of role the Taliban reserve for their vigilante squads.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Sometimes we fool ourselves into believing that things have improved dramatically since the days of General Ziaul Haq, when culture and free expression in numerous forms were ruthlessly crushed. But there are reminders every now and then that the legacy of those times lives on. The latest such reminder came at the Nairang Art Gallery in Lahore, run by leading architect Nayyer Ali Dada. In a sequence of events that took place a few days ago, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Shadman Police Station took it upon himself to raid the gallery and rough-up the women curator apparently on the grounds that she was wearing unsuitable clothing and associating with men. He said that the whole environment was ‘indecent’.

Shockingly, even now no action has been taken against the SHO despite an outcry from human rights activists who have loudly condemned his uncouth and entirely uncalled for actions. FIRs were registered against the curator under an obsolete act dealing with public immorality. We do not know if there is anything more behind the matter, but the Punjab government has certainly done little to redeem itself in the eyes of the people by failing to crack down against the SHO who would be well advised to tackle real crime rather than harassing people guilty of no wrongdoing.

The Nairang Gallery is intended to serve as a place where open discussion can take place somewhat on the pattern of the old Pak Tea House which has faded away. We need many such forums. Those who gathered at the location likely to be progressive and forward-looking. It seems our police, which have taken upon itself the kind of role the Taliban reserve for their vigilante squads, is determined to leave no space for such people in our society. As it is, they are falling into the category of a minority in an environment where a more conservative code has grown more and more dominant. But their rights need at all costs to be protected and action taken against the SHO for his uncouth behaviour.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/226822-PolicePHOTOSINPSANA-1312818030/226822-PolicePHOTOSINPSANA-1312818030.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>Lahore’s growing Talibanisation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/226888/lahore%e2%80%99s-growing-talibanisation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/226888/lahore%e2%80%99s-growing-talibanisation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Aug 11 15:03:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[raza.rumi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=226888</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Police behaviour is reflective of how state functionaries are radicalised or helpless before rising tide of Islamism.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The recent abuse of police power at Lahore’s premier hub of arts is a sad reminder of how ‘culture’ is under attack from the state and vigilantes alike. The rough handling of a woman curator at the Nairang Gallery is not an isolated incident. There is an unfortunate history of attacks on artists and cultural spaces in Pakistan.

According to reports, last week a senior police official barged into the gallery and harassed and assaulted a woman, later accusing her of wearing improper clothes and labelled the gallery’s work as ‘fahashi’ (vulgarity). Eyewitness accounts suggest that the official, a local SHO, at first picked on a couple and questioned why they were sitting together! Later, he barged into a rehearsal of a Bharatanatyam dance performance; and assaulted the female curator of the gallery who asked why the SHO was intruding in the activities of the gallery. Even the staff members who intervened to rescue the young woman were reportedly thrashed.

Later, when the well-known architect’s (who runs the gallery) son inquired about the misconduct of the police official, he was taken to the local police station to be “hung upside down”. He was released later, thankfully without much harm. This incident has left a big question mark on whether freedom to run cultural institutions without the ‘ideological’ endorsement of the state is possible anymore.

Nairang Gallery is the brainchild of the globally acclaimed Nayyar Ali Dada and its ethos runs counter to the Zia era’s policies of turning Pakistan into a fundamentalist desert. Nairang hosts weekly meetings of literary giants and thinkers. The space is also used for various study groups and allows for plural, progressive debates. In addition, the gallery showcases contemporary art and music. However, all such activities are endangered in times when state-nurtured jihadis have become more powerful than the state and have infiltrated the minds of the policemen.

The late Salmaan Taseer’s killer, Mumtaz Qadri, is a case is point. A member of a highly trained elite police force, he was abetted by his colleagues in committing a murder to eliminate a public figure who stood up against the tyranny of blasphemy laws. Unfortunately, the Punjab government is yet to take any concrete steps to cleanse the special police force of the bigotry, which has now become a fact of life in Pakistan.

In recent years, Punjab has witnessed the rise of sectarian and militant outfits, including the Tehreek- i-Taliban Pakistan, who have been appeased on various occasions by the leadership of the party that rules the province. A recent report entitled “Madrassahs fanning radicalism” was reportedly forwarded by the Punjab Home Department to the police and civil administration, urging regulation of mainstream madrassas “to ensure protection of civil society from radicalisation and sectarian polarisation.” Punjab is a haven for sectarian and radical ideologues who have full freedom, and some say protection, to carry on with their hate-business.

In this larger context, Nairang Gallery is a threat to purists and fanatics. Police behaviour is also reflective of how state functionaries are either radicalised or helpless before the rising tide of Islamism. However, this incident should not be brushed aside or forgotten. Pakistan’s civil society and progressive voices in the media should guard the shrinking public spaces and call for a wider reform of the police force and should demand a crackdown on extremist outfits which are busy infiltrating the civil and military institutions. Pakistan will cease to exist if its pluralism and secular traditions are further eroded.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2011.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/226888-RazaRumi-1312809814/226888-RazaRumi-1312809814.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item>	</channel>
                </rss>
