… and cricket is haram, anyways.

Pakistan India? No more, it seems. News streams out of Pakistan that some indian correspondent went to Lahore, got himself into some :high class parties: and wrote up about that in a weekly news magazine. The Urdu press reacted thusly: All those nice things we said, we take them back! Plus, as an editorial notes "The mullahs are already calling for kowras (whip-lashings) on the backsides of those who thought of staging a cricket series with India and those who opened their hearts to the visiting Indians and offered them hospitality".

The offensive bit seems to be that Lahoris party their ass off - islam or no islam. Highly charged stuff, indeed, for a nincompoop!
Pakistanis are people, people. They are rich. They are poor. They party. They pray. They abuse. They protect. Any given segment of society in US or India will find a counterpart in Pakistan. It may be in the counter-culture but it will be there. The journalism out of India during the series did skew towards the OMG! THIS HAPPENS IN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN! Now comes the backlash.
updated

Here is DJ Rahul reporting [emphasis added]:

I first went to Karachi to deejay at a new yearÏ€s eve charity ball last year. People buy up tables at these balls for a minimum of a lakh of rupees. The amazing part is that society ladies organise these events and not event managers. The ladies do a great job. And the people who organise these parties are wellconnected (which helped Rahul get his visa to Pakistan without any hiccups). Right now, in Karachi everyoneÏ€s talking Mumbaiyastyle like Sanjay Dutt in Munnabhai MBBS.

While Pakistanis simply freak out on Indian music, Hindi pop, remixes and the latest in western music, their deejays donÏ€t know how to mix music well. Alcohol is prohibited in Pakistan but bootlegging thrives and booze flows like water at parties. There are no bars or night clubs but plenty of upmarket clubs for the creme de la creme. And every weekend thereÏ€s some party or the other happening in full swing. Pakistanis are either very rich and well-networked or poor and uneducated. The women are very fashionable and style conscious. EveryoneÏ€s on the ball as far as fashion and music is concerned.

Quality stuff. Now, I do not know if this is the offending piece. And should I hear more, I will update here. However, I can attest to the popularity of Munnabhai MBBS.
CricketGate is here.

And Eureka: Here is one editorial

COMMENTS

sven | May 04, 2004

woo hoo... you need to make my site pretty like yours. for leaving a beer bong on my desk at least!

shafiq | July 14, 2004

Hello! i wanna like 2 talk abopu "haraam" just wanna like 2 ask you ppl that wots haraam.

chapati mystery The Secret Lives of Internet Cafes | December 15, 2005

[...] « … and cricket is haram, anyways. [...]

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