Can Pakistani music speak louder than guns?
Can music speak louder than guns? By Mark LeVine The information for this article was extracted from the author’s topical book – ‘Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam’. This piece was written exclusively for TGK’s inaugural issue. Driving into Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), there is a sign on the road that welcomes you to ‘The land of hospitality’. This is not what I expected to find on my way to Peshawar, gateway to the region of the country controlled by the Taliban and al-Qaeda, where Osama bin Laden is said to be hiding. But it’s true nonetheless, at least part of the time. For me, the main clue to understanding the contradictions between the warmth of the people in general, and the strikingly beautiful scenery across the NWFP and FATA, and the violence that has long plagued the region, lies in the beautiful new highway from Islamabad to the NWFP that, at least when I was last there a year ago, stops about half way between the
