The huge courtyard of the mosque is almost full of locals attentively listening to an aging cleric as he chides the local DSP for not reaching the gathering on time.
He is told that there has been a kidnapping and the official is busy handling it. The cleric is not satisfied. The air inside the mosque at walking from the Grand Trunk Road in Tarujabba, Nowshera is suffocating.
This jirga has assembled to decide the future of the newly launched cable service in the area and at the same time of gambling, eunuch dances and other ‘immoral’ activities. The cleric, Usman, is followed by another firebrand teacher of a local seminary. He recites verses from the Holy Quran and exhorts people to stay on the righteous path.
He talks of Jihad and claims that a Muslim’s life is meant to be spent enforcing Islamic ideals, even if it costs him his life and property, and that villagers should not allow immoral activities in their village and should live in accordance with Islamic ideals.
As he continues with his rant, the crowd grows restless and starts whispering; those talking in low tones are rebuked by some elders sitting in the front row.
A third cleric arrives. He also begins preaching, before a commotion in the crowd signals that the DSP has arrived in the mosque.
A burly man appears from inside the main prayer hall and informs that the DSP has arrived and will address the gathered crowd soon. “Majority is authority,” he announces, “As you did not want any immoral activity in your area, the authorities will cooperate with you.”
DSP Pervez Khan stands up and says that he will uphold whatever decision the people make.
He addresses the crowd, “[Raise your hands if] you people want to not allow cable television, gambling, drugs dens, eunuchs’ dances and other immoral activities in your area.”
Almost the entire crowd raised their hands and began chanting, creating a huge commotion in the mosque.
The issue has been settled, he says, and points towards his lieutenants, asking people to inform him if they do something illegal or are lax in punishing those involved in immoral activities. He also repeats his cell number thrice to the crowd, asking them to inform him of any immoral activity in the area.
The verdict is sealed and there will be no cable television in this small town. A local stands up in the middle of the crowd and angrily asks those people who have rented shops to the cable operators to get their shops vacated immediately from this unholy business. The crowd applauds his charged speech with clapping.
Cable operator Zahir Ayub is furious after sitting through the gathering. “I have a license from the Pemra and paid all the fees to run a legal business,” he said.
Ayub says that due to the clerics’ alliance against his legal business, he is losing around Rs10,000 per day and now police is also hand in gloves with these guys and helping them with their illegal demand.
When asked what will happen to the 45 people who have installed cable at their homes, DSP Pervez Khan says that they will remove the cable within some days. “We do what people want us to do,” Pervez adds.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2011.
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