Afghan musicians who fled the country in search of a better life have landed directly into the fire in Pakistan. Over the last couple of days, many have been arrested and deported back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan under the Foreigners Act, 1946.
At a protest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the musicians told The Express Tribune that the police bring deportation charges as soon as they learn they are artists.
“I have a large household, including an ailing father, to take care of… I had no source of income; therefore, I came to Peshawar,” one of the musicians told Dawn without giving his real name.
About 150 Afghan artists have been living in Peshawar since August 2021. For these artists, whether to flee Afghanistan or not was not a choice. “Taliban will not leave us if we don’t quit our profession,” singer Pasun Munawar said. Another singer Ajmal reportedly changed his attire before arriving in Peshawar.
Taliban’s ban
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021 put an unofficial ban on music, sports, education (the latter two mainly for women). Many have either fled the country or stopped performing at all.
With the US invasion, Afghanistan saw a return of its strong musical tradition, influenced by Iranian and Indian classical music. In the last 20 years, before Joe Biden ordered withdrawal of US troops, a thriving pop music scene had also developed in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan National Institute of Music had done the unthinkable by being home to the country’s first all-female orchestra. Zohra used to perform to huge audiences both nationally and internationally.
Now, videos of the Taliban smashing and burning instruments are all over social media.
Footage of Taliban humiliating musicians, burning their instruments has stirred outrage among Afghans.
It confirms worst fears of Afghan artists. Despite claims of moderation, Taliban treating musicians with same disdain it showed in 1990s. #Afghanistanhttps://t.co/7AhNsjvEGr pic.twitter.com/KJNdaJpIKo
— Frud Bezhan فرود بيژن (@FrudBezhan) January 19, 2022
In October 2021, Taliban members shot dead two people and injured two others over music being played at a wedding in Surkh Rod, Nangarhar province.
Also read: ‘Taliban rule’: Pakistanis fume after police violently disrupt Pashtun singer’s concert
Pakistan’s law
Four Afghan musicians spent a week in a jail in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before social media uproar led to a local court granting them bail. They had been arrested after a performance on 28 May. Opposition leaders in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, including Awami National Party MP Sardar Hussain Babak and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz member Ikhtiar Wali Khan had also joined the protest
Dawn reported that judicial magistrate Sher Hassan Khan accepted bail petition of the musicians on condition of two sureties of Rs 90,000 each.
The advocate appearing for Naveedullah, Nadeem Shad, Saeedullah, and Ajmal argued that deportation would mean sending the musicians to a life of threat. He added that Islamabad should consider letting them stay in the country on humanitarian grounds.
“We arrived in this country to look for asylum out of desperation,” Hafta Gul, a singer, told BBC Pashto. “We have nowhere else to go.”
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, however, is not keen on letting them stay. Dawn newspaper reported that there have been 1,900 arrests so far, citing police sources, with no clarity yet on how many have been deported. An officer said the police have arrested those who came over illegally and do not have valid documents. Musicians say getting a Pakistani visa can cost up to $600 (about 1.2 lakh Pakistani rupees).
“The Afghan artists who have arrived here live in fear and great misery,” musician Zaryali told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal.
Also read: Afghanistan and Pakistan are in a strategic embrace that cannot have a happy ending
Uncertain future
Afghans started fleeing to various countries once it became clear that the Taliban rule would reverse everything that changed in the last 20 years. One musician said that his son went missing and was later found in Turkey. He is worried that if Turkish officials get hold of him, he will also be deported back to Afghanistan.
For many, the post-Soviet invasion fears of an uncertain future have returned. Many Afghans had fled to Pakistan and returned to their homeland after Hamid Karzai took as president in 2001.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul Mansoor Ahmed Khan had earlier said that the country will not give refugee status to anyone coming from Afghanistan. “We are issuing visas to Afghans more liberally than any other neighbouring country or any other country in the world. We are doing so to help address Afghans’ humanitarian concerns. But if they (Afghans) want their status to be converted into refugee status, that will not happen nor will we allow it.”
Back in Afghanistan, Dr Ahmad Sarsmat, founder of Afghanistan National Institute of Music, appealed to everyone to support Afghan musicians during their current plight.
"I never imagined I'd be standing in front of you once again, and I'm calling on the international community to save Afghan music and Afghan musicians," @DSarmast of @ANIM_Official_ before a performance of the Afghan National Institute of Music at the #WorldJusticeForum. pic.twitter.com/7FDZL8WZ0A
— World Justice Project (@TheWJP) May 31, 2022