 |
| Volume XV, Spring 2008, Number 1 |
| |
EXCERPT
Pakistan: Terror War Bolsters Islamism, Nationhood
|
| |
| Mustafa Malik |
| |
Mr. Malik is a Washington-based researcher and journalist investigating the sources and social effects of religious movements in his native Indian subcontinent.
A recent visit to Pakistan reminded me of the movie Gone
With the Wind. The country
where I lived and worked has been hit by turbulence that has blown away many of the symbols of secularism and Western lifestyle that once characterized its urban life. Gone were the bars and dance clubs, the love songs playing in restaurants, the movie posters showing scantily dressed actresses, and the Western women tourists strolling sidewalks in bikinis. Today stores and buses in Pakistan resonate with Quranic verses flowing out of cassette players. On college campuses coeds with elaborate hairdos have been replaced by women in head-scarves. Posh hotels known for their joyful musical performances have discontinued them; some have added prayer rooms. In the capital, Islamabad, I asked a journalist colleague what had brought about this cultural revolution.
|
| |
|
