Source of story on Pappu being banned (Dailytimes)
Lahore's UC government and the Auqaf department have done what was perhaps expected from them after pressure by the local residents of Shah Jamal. Hazrat Shah Jamal's shrine, a popular hang-out for local yuppies as well as foreign tourists had also become synonomous for being a site where drugs were readily available. Pappu Saeen comes out and plays his dhol every Thursday night for the audience while of the attendees have gone on their highs in anticipation of the religious dances and music. Pappu and his men play the dhol well into the night while everyone else dances.
Whatsmore, on a certain Thrusday of the month, there are horse carriage races - the horses being fed heavy doses of 'hashish' to permanently dull their senses so that the animals can run to their hearts content without stopping. I nearly got run over in my car by two carriages as they were coming out of the Shah Jamal area and onto the Canal Road. These horses do not stop no matter what.
To ban the excessive drug use, Pappu Saeen has now been prevented from performing at the shrine. This is probably not going to 'solve' anything. People will get stoned. The foreigners, yuppies and the majority locals of the city who honor Hazrat Shah Jamal will just as easily get stoned from substances found and sold elsewhere. In fact, one can anticipate Pappu banning getting stoned inside the premises. However, you'd see a long line of men and women get high in a line outside the gates. What will the residents do then?
It is better for the government and local authorities to regulate the use of drugs as banning them has clearly not worked. And Pappu should be allowed to dance.
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3 comments:
But Puppu is an accomplice, right? I am assuming that he is also a druggie. It is probably better that people keep things behind their doors then create a raucous in public. I agree that it isn't a solution but this is a good starting point I think.
Pappu an accomplice?!? That's sacrilege! But yes, he does contribute to the 'highs'. However, since banning drugs has failed, regulating them is a perhaps a better solution.
It's more of a sacrilege to consider any human infallible. I think Sufi culture has some history of drinking and hence, all the mention of drinking and intoxication in qawali and sufi poetry.
You could align that with the tradition of drug usage in the religious practices of indigenous Americans.
Not to mention, English poets and writers in enlightenment and Victorian period have often been opium users.
Once it's introduced in a culture it becomes part of it. I don't know how it could be erased.
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