Over the weekend, more than 47 people were killed in an attack on a line of people waiting at a food distribution point at a refugee camp in Kohat in northwest Pakistan. On Sunday, another bombing targeted a Pakistani police station in the town of Billitung, killing seven and wounding around two dozen. And yesterday, two explosions struck the city of Peshawar, killing at least 23 people and wounding 42. All of these bombings were perpetrated by suicide bombers. Daniyal Noorani recently wrote and released a single entitled, “Find Heaven,” on YouTube, which addresses the recruitment of young militants (see Dawn’s interview with him here). Below, he discusses his inspiration behind the song, (to see the Urdu version, “Jannat Pao Gaye,” click here):
When Kalsoom asked me whether I would write a piece on my music video, Find Heaven, I was hesitant and I felt as if I would be tooting my own horn. But then I took a moment to think about it and realized that this was an opportunity to tell how the song came about and why I made it.
I could tell you that I sat down one day with the intention of not moving till I wrote a song that addressed the issue of extremism in Pakistan, but that would be a lie. The lyrics for “Find Heaven” was a moment of inspiration. That being said, during those days I was clearly disturbed by the events that were transpiring in Pakistan. Suicide bombings were happening on a daily basis and the subsequent public opinion, at best, was apathetic. I was wrestling both with my faith and understanding of religion. I even tried to start a blog, Forgotten Islam, as a way to try and voice my thoughts. The subject of extremism and terrorism was clearly on my mind.
While writing “Find Heaven” I thought of it more as a narrative and story which highlighted society’s failing as opposed to thinking of it as a statement against the extremists. The goal of the song and video was more to highlight how the impoverished people of Pakistan are being manipulated and taken advantage of for the gain of a few. Given the current situation in Pakistan at that time, I thought it pertinent to use the extremists in this video. But the whole narrative would still be valid if the extremists were replaced by politicians who offered the impoverished people a form of Heaven via power, fame and money.My focus was on showing how society’s flaws force the main character to choose a certain path and that this problem of extremism is more an issue of society’s failing than that of religious ideologies clashing.
The hope that I had from this video was that people would start to ask difficult and uncomfortable questions. Why were the extremists the only one reaching out to the main character? Why don’t we have society where there is justice and equality? Where is the God in what the extremists are doing? Why aren’t we, ourselves, doing anything to stop this? I believe that once we, as a society, honestly start asking ourselves these questions, we can begin to move forward. Because one can only get to an answer if they ask a question.
The contribution is the sole opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the opinion of CHUP. If you would like to contribute a piece to CHUP, please email Kalsoom at changinguppakistan[at]gmail[dot]com. Pieces should be no longer than 800 words please. For past contributions, click here.
A good addendum to this piece would be AP’s article, delving into the mindset of a suicide bomber: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100418/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_militant_s_journey
A great initiative, much needed today.
(One note: please fix the link under “For past contributions, click here” at the end. Thanks.)
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I greatly appreciate your effort. Really Well done !
Individuals like Daniyal Noorani need to be credited for their efforts. Finding heaven accurately points out towards the state of confusion of our youth and how the religious extremism exploits their sentiments to recruit them. We need to engage our youth in positive activities so that they do not fall prey to militancy
Daniyal said “I was wrestling both with my faith and understanding of religion.”
How true. The massive rise in intolerance, extremism and suicide bombings forces us to look into ourselves, our beliefs and what we have become – whether we dare to admit it or not. Some of us care to take that journey. Why should Muslims with a conscience accept the prevailing understanding about Islam if it is leading to moral and societal chaos? Eventually some Pakistanis will rise out of our stupor and from this an outlook grounded in the highest moral attitudes will emerge. Then perhaps, there will be people who will be reaching out to the main character of this song.
Perhaps a disgust with the turn of events may even start reflecting in the attitudes of our society as a whole. I see our society increasingly countering the narrative of the narrow minded, power hungry, violence loving, self appointed ‘priests’ of Islam. Suicide bombers are forcing this inward reflection upon us. We should be hopeful.
A shocking piece indeed. The video clearly shows how these demented Mullahs’s sell kids for terrorist activities to these militants from their Madrasah’s for little money. The responsibility falls on all of us to make each other aware of such dealings and expose them to the media.
Yea I really like this. He ullemas are so mastered at these skills to brainwash people who are failing to find a place in the society. They then use and manipulate them to become suicide bombers. We need to stop this. Awesome video explains it all.
Daniyal highlights a pertinent point that our society is indifferent to the plight and issues of the youth, the wander aimlessly in the streets and the opportunities to explore their talents are limited. That is when the militants reach out to them, they promise them heaven (farfetched I know) but more importantly they give them a cause, a mission to align with and at that that point in life it seems right. We must provide opportunities both educational, recreational which a thought provoking and brings out the true potential of our youth.