It is not that only people do suffer in wars and conflicts; culture, history and art also get their share in the destruction wreaked by the parties involved in wars. Afghanistan can be the worst case of this in modern history: from burning books by the Communists to murdering singers by the Mujahedeen and destroying every piece of art by the Taliban, from several kinds of cruelty none is left untested in this land. Music has remained a special target throughout the war years. Fortunately, when the hardliners started suffocating it in one place, it found another place for flourishing. And that is the reason the Pashto music still survives and keeps our hearts lively and warm.

In Afghanistan, when Dr. Najibullah collapsed and the Mujahedeen forces established several small kingdoms in the country, and a civil war erupted, music continued to be targeted along with the Afghans being killed in hundreds every day (the singers were targeted by the Mujahedeen from the early days of their activities). As most of them were trained as hardcore extremists by the CIA and Pakistani ISI, they attacked singers and music shops whenever and wherever they could, the Taliban would do the same with much more force many years later.

Consequently, like other people, the singers started fleeing to Pakistan, Iran and few to Europe and the United States. Pashto-speaking Afghan singers like Naghma and her husband Mangal, Zar Sanga, Kandi Kochi, Qamar Gula, and others were welcomed by the millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, they reached their peak of popularity during their stay in that country. Farsi-speaking singers enjoyed the same position in Iran, Pakistan and other countries. Together with their Pakistani counterparts, the Afghan Pashto singers kept Pashto music alive and it flourished during the years when the Afghan refugees were not considered a burden by the Pakistani government because of the dollars flowed from the United States and world for Afghan refugees a big share of which went to Pakistani pockets.

Conditions for Pashto music worsened when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan and banned all kinds of entertainment; even sporting a particular hairstyle or keeping a photo was an offence. Thus, the Pashto music continued to flourish in Pakistan, particularly in the Pashtunkhwa province, which is officially called the N.W.F.P., a name given by the British Indian government. Afghan Pashto singers were popular not only among the Afghan refugees there but the Pakistani music-lovers also formed a big audience for them. The singers got the biggest audiences of young music lovers from both the countries and enjoyed a unique popularity.

Then arrived 9/11, which changed the situation altogether. Afghanistan was attacked by the American forces and the Taliban were wiped out. Now it was their turn to flee to Pakistan. A U.N.-backed government was established in Afghanistan and people started returning their homes. Among them were singers, not the senior ones, but a young generation of new voices equipped with new techniques and technologies. Yet the senior singers, both Pakistani and Afghan, continued as the most loved entertainers though they preferred to live in Europe.

As conditions started getting better for Pashto music in Afghanistan, they deteriorated in Pakistan as Taliban influence grew there rapidly. In 2002, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a religious alliance, came into power in Pashtunkhwa and adopted the Taliban-like attitude toward music and singers. Pashto singers were beaten (popular singer Gul Zar Alam left singing because of continued threats) and music centers were being blown up. As extremism expanded its cloak from Waziristan to Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Dir, Swat, and from then to Bunir, Mardan, and even to Peshawar, attacking singers and blowing music shops became a routine. In the whole Pashtun land, the scenic valley of Swat was the biggest entertainment center. Eventually the Valley was captured by the militants and war broke which forced millions of people to flee to safer areas. The whole province and the tribal areas met the same fate.

As a result, entertainment providing companies closed down and the people related the entertainment activities – singers, actors, actresses, etc. – fled the country (as did Haroon Bacha) or simply left the field (as did many others). Two very popular comedians, Mirawas and Alamzeb Mujahid, were abducted and forced into becoming religious preachers. Many others were killed. A young singer, Sardar Yousafzai, was attacked in Malakand but escaped unhurt, though two of his companions wounded.

These bad conditions for Pashto music still prevail in the extremism-hit areas of Pakistan. But, a number of Pakistani singers have still managed to continue their career in singing. Gul Zar Alam announced a comeback after Awami National Party (ANP) won the election in Pashtunkhwa. Nazia Iqbal, the queen of Pashto music, still rules the hearts of music lovers. Sardar Yousafzai and Naeem Tori are becoming more popular. There are new Pashto singers from Pakistani side of the Durand Line, like Zick Afridi, Bakhtiar Khattak, and others. This is because their voices are liked and loved in Afghanistan. Though many of these Pakistani singers do not reside in Afghanistan, the technology has made easy for music lovers to have access to their talent. Their concerts and songs are being played on television and radio channels across Afghanistan and their new video and audio CDs are sold like hot cakes. It does not matter where they reside and do record their songs; the market in Afghanistan pays well and encourages them to continue singing. Pakistani voices now flourish in Afghanistan, as is said that history repeats itself.

‘Afghanistan is the sacred home for all Pashtuns; when we are here, we feel at home. We are respected and our talent is appreciated here, we love this and we love Afghanistan. And most importantly, we pray for peace here,’ said Sardar Yousafzai and Naeem Tori during a recent visit to Kabul, after a concert in a local hotel.

The U.N. and the U.S. wasted no time in declaring the election a success. True that the violence during the election process was not of much significance, in terms of its inability to hinder the process completely, but the fear that the Taliban were able to instill into the hearts of the voters before election day resulted in a low turnout across the country; even lower than expected in southern and southeastern provinces where the insurgents have control over several districts. They had threatened to cut off fingers found with the voting ink on.

According to latest reports, the vote count has been completed, the official results are yet not out, but both President Hamid Karzai and his rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory over one another last night. Other candidates blamed officials for rigging on a massive scale. Of course, irregularities, flaws in the process and other problems were reported from all over the country.

The country as well as the world is now impatiently waiting for the results to know who the winner was. Unofficial results and surveys show Mr. Karzai and Abdullah neck-and-neck in some provinces and Mr. Karzai much ahead in others. Two strong possibilities emerge as a result: a runoff if none of the candidates had the required votes; and a tension if one candidate got the majority votes and the other refused to accept his victory; this is the case most likely if President Karzai was declared a winner.

This is a very complicated situation now. By now it is clear that the winner is either Karzai or Abdullah. If the official announcement of the results provokes the failed one of them and it incites violence or stirs up tension which will eventually end up as a conflict between the Pashtoons and the Tajiks, or between the South and the North, it will divide the country and will harm the efforts against terrorism immensely, not only in Afghanistan, but in the whole region.

In the north, the notorious warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, has backed President Karzai in the election, while a powerful Governor of the Balkh province, Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor, campaigned for Dr. Abdullah. A tension on the election results may provoke Gen. Dostum and his Uzbek militia to act violently. He is already unhappy with the U.S. embassy statements about his return from Turkey. But in general view, his return contributed to the perception that the election was contested on the ground of warlordism, not democratic manners. This increased some people’s contempt towards the election process in Afghanistan.

With these uncertainties prevailing in the election aftermath, the international community, particularly the U.N. and the U.S., need to recognize the need of a broad based strategy that is acceptable to both sides and, more importantly, workable and effective in situations of this nature. This step is particularly important because if a conflict arises from this tension, it will have very unsuccessful and disastrous results for a ‘successful’ election.

By Abdulhadi Hairan

‘Have not you ever seen a woman casting vote?’ asked an angry BB Jamila who was surrounded by an army of reporters and cameramen the moment she stepped inside Zarghoona High School at Shahr-e-Naw, Kabul. The reporters inundated her with questions she had never heard and had never expected that she would face such a situation in the polling center. Leaving home for the polling center, she had some hidden fears that the Taliban militants might attack, but here she was in a completely different situation: cameras flushed at her, reporters asked questions about the election, Afghanistan’s future and about the importance of women’s role. ‘Where do you think the country is heading?’ a reporter asked in Dari. She answered in a tired and uncaring voice that she was heading to cast her vote and then wanted to go to her home.

Inside the compound of the school, where the number of female voters seemed equal to the male voters, correspondents of the local and international media waited for voters to interview but the turnout was lower than they expected, so they had to wait for half of the whole day to get enough information to dispatch to their organizations.

My first visit was to the Habibia High School at Karta-e-3. The time was exactly 08:13 AM. The polling had been started about one hour earlier amid tight security. Empty roads and closed markets was a clear sign that the turnout will be low. At Habibia, this was the real case. Reporters and cameramen followed every voter to have an interview with or get some information from. Some people were willing to show their faces, others quietly left the schools leaving cameramen and reporters behind. The outspoken presidential candidate, Ramazan Bashardost cast his vote at this polling center and then started giving statements and interviews to the media. I saw no female voter entering this polling center.

Later, Dr. Ashraf Ghani also arrived at this polling center and cast his vote here. He was surrounded by a large number of campaigners who were highly optimistic about his victory despite the low turnout they could see. He also gave many statements and interviews to the media and met lot of people at the center. To my surprise, an old Kuchi man, whom I had interviewed few minutes ago and who proudly told me that he had cast his vote for Hamid Karzai, hugged him and told him that he liked him very much. After Mr. Ghani left, I asked the man if he was so fond of him and liked him so much why he voted for Karzai. He simply replied, ‘I like Ghani, he is a good man, but I voted for Karzai because I know he can lead this country better than anyone else.’

I interviewed few more people and went to another polling center: a high school at Chehal Satoon (district 7). And then to five more polling centers, including Zarghoona High School at Shahr-e-Naw. The voters were excited everywhere, but rush was nowhere. At a high school at Karta-e-9, there was a firing from somewhere close to the area, but there was no panic and the voters continued to vote. At Ghulam Haider Khan High School at Khairkhana, someone spread news that there was a blast at a polling center somewhere at the city. Yet no one left their place or looked worried. They just continued to vote and made exaggerating claims about the victory of their candidates.

At the polling centers, I interviewed 66 people and asked them whom they had voted for in order to have an idea about the popularity of the candidates. The result was that the majority of the people said they had voted for President Karzai. Following are the details of the respondents’ answers:

Habibia High School

President Hamid Karzai            9

Dr. Ashraf Ghani                         1

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah            1

Chehal Satoon

President Hamid Karzai            1

Dr. Ashraf Ghani                      1

Karta-e-9

President Hamid Karzai            2

Isteqlal High School, Park Zarnigar

President Hamid Karzai            2

Dr. Ashraf Ghani                      2

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah        1

Zarghoona High School, Shahr-e-Naw

President Hamid Karzai            7

Dr. Ashraf Ghani                      1

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah         2

Ghulam Haider Khan High School, Khairkhana

President Hamid Karzai            17

Dr. Ashraf Ghani                      3

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah         7

Ramazan Bashardost                1

Nadria High School, Karta-e-Parwan

President Hamid Karzai            4

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah             4

Total

President Hamid Karzai            42

Dr. Ashraf Ghani                          8

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah            15

Ramazan Bashardost                1

Among the people I interviewed 5 were women and the rest men. Among the men were Pashtoons, Tajik, and others. One said he was a traffic police officer. Majority of those who had voted for Karzai said they were happy with his leadership because their life conditions were improved during his presidency. A shopkeeper said he voted for Karzai because he had united the Afghans and provided better opportunities for them. He said he liked Karzai because he did not like wars and always acted wisely.

I also interviewed 10 people who were not registered voters. I asked why. 6 of them said they simply did not spare time to go to a voter registration center and register their names. 1 said they were not interested in the elections and did not care where the country was going. 1 said he was not sure whom to vote for, hence he did not try to get a voter card. 1 said he believed that democracy was against Islam.

Among the six who did not spare time for registering their names, 3 said they would have liked to vote for Karzai; one said for Dr. Ashraf Ghani; one said for Dr. Abdullah; and one said for Mirwais Yasini.

The voting is still underway and will continue until late. There is a strong possibility that a runoff will be needed.