Islam replaced the earlier religious ideologies. Thousands of mosques, tombs and gardens, depicting the Muslim culture, were built. Over a period of thousand years, Islamic architecture bloomed and its cuisines were fascinated. One of the Turkish gifts was Pakistan’s national dress, the ‘shalwar kameez’.

Cultural Monuments

The Lahore fort, the Badshahi mosque, Smadhi Rangit Singh in Lahore, statues of fasting Buddhas, beautiful and always lively shrines of Muslim saints, especially in Multan, all are the evidence of an extremely rich culture.

The Lost Civilizations

During the 2nd century B.C, Buddhists took over the region after Alexander the great invaded it in 326 B.C. For more than around 1000 years, this region was influenced by Buddhism; many of the Gandhara sculptures are still at display in Lahore and Taxila.

The glorious Indus Valley Civilization left another cultural treasure to be cherished by Pakistanis. The Pakistani and French archaeologists, in 1980s, found stone tools, bowls, drinking glasses and dishes, mud houses and ornamental beads at Mehargarh, Balochistan. Archaeologists learnt a great deal by studying the life of Mehargarh people. These are all included in contributions towards a rich culture.

Conserving The Pakistani Culture

There are different organizations working towards saving Pakistani culture from deterioration. The National Fund for Cultural Heritage (NFCH) was established in 1994 through a Parliamentary Act. Its objectives included the preservation, conservation and publication of Pakistani culture. Through financial and technical assistance, NFCH works towards achieving its goals of securing this heritage. Their aim is to conserve the Pakistani culture including all archaeological, historical and architectural values.

It is also NFCH’s objective to undertake and promote research for the conservation of Pakistani culture. NFCH also arranges materials for publication of periodicals, pamphlets, newspapers and posters etc., for the enhancement of Pakistani heritage.
There are also some other organizations at work for the conservation of Pakistani culture like Aga khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). It is an international organization which focuses on the physical, social, cultural and economic revitalization of communities in the Muslim world. The Aga khan Trust for Culture, Pakistan, is engaged in the revival of the local culture and heritage. They believe in restoring, so that it leads to the infusion of new life into historic landmark buildings. This organization has restored the villages and neighborhoods in and around the Baltit Fort with the help of the local residents. They are tirelessly working for the conservation and development of Baltistan and Hunza. Without the help of local residents, this restoration would not have been possible.

Bangladesh has a very rich musical heritage since music has always played an important role in the lives of the people. In ancient times, song was usually linked to prayer and this can still be seen somewhat today in the singing of folksongs which often praise certain gods and their creation. Over time new influences where introduced and musical styles changed. Musical development was better than many other spheres of life because such development was often well patronized by the rulers of the time. Today Bangladesh music is varied and distinctive.

Generally speaking, Bangladesh music can be categorized into a number of genres. The main genres are: classical music, rabindra sangeet, nazrul geeti, folk songs, adhunik gaan and modern music with western influences. Each of these categories is very broad and can incorporate a number of different styles and musical movements. The most distinguishable characteristic of Classical music is that it is based on raqas modes. Rabindra sangeet is more often characterised by the words used which are usually either prayer songs, love songs, seasonal songs or patriotic songs. All rabindra sangeet music has a theme of philosophy and love and often they incorporate masterful poetry

Nazrul geeti is more easily classified because all musical works in this genre incorporate the works of Kazi Nazrul Islam, one of the country’s national poets and a major revolutionist. The style tends to incorporate revolutionary thoughts as well as spiritual and philosophical themes. Most folk songs relate the particular lifestyles of various types of people such as hermits, fishermen and cart drivers. They have survived from generation to generation and often include words of worship to various Bengali gods.

Adhunik gaan is basically a genre of more modern music which is often loosely categorised by the area where it originated. The style started to emerge just before the revolution and is stylistically simple so that anyone – including the uneducated – can appreciate its worth. While these songs are still called ‘Adhunik gaan’ which means ‘modern songs’ many of them are now quite old. Despite the emergence of newer styles of music, Adhunik gaan is still one of the most popular music styles amongst middle-class Bangladeshi families today.

In the late 80s, new demands were being made on music that current music could not meet. A more western influence started to be exerted on musicians which lead to the emergence of a number of artists who chose to lean more towards world-wide trends. Pop and rock took the country’s youth by storm and are still being enjoyed today. Some mainstream rock has made its way to radio stations and cd shops in Bangladesh while a large underground rock movement also exists.

If you go to Bangladesh, you will soon encounter all sorts of musical sounds. One may sound completely different from the other, but they all share the common thread of having a massive impact on the lives of the people of Bangladesh. Make sure that you listen to some Bangladesh music when you’re next in the country.

]]> http://www.heritage.com.pk/music/music-of-bangladesh-folk-music-of-india/feed/ 0 http://www.heritage.com.pk/travel-guide/travel-to-islamabad-pakistan/ http://www.heritage.com.pk/travel-guide/travel-to-islamabad-pakistan/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:09:52 +0000 admin http://www.heritage.com.pk/?p=1499

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan since 1963. A relatively quiet city, it consists of mainly Federal Government offices, Parliment House, the official residence of the President and Prime Minister along with the Diplomatic Enclave, an area next to the Parliament House dedicated to foreign embassies and missions appointed in Pakistan.
Islamabad Business districtAlthough the majority of the population in Islamabad traditionally have been employees of the Federal Government, in recent years Islamabad has become a very important financial and business city with a lot of local and foreign banks and ever expanding private businesses. In the last decade there has been vast changes in the city’s traditional reputation. From it being a typical 9 to 5 city, Islamabad has become more lively with a lot of international food chains opening businesses, and generally a great improvement in night life with increasing shopping areas opening till late. However during winter season streets are considerably quiet after dark.

Even now, Islamabad remains a city where people come from all over the country to enjoy its peaceful, noise-free atmosphere with a lot of greenery and nice surrounding scenery. It also serves as a base camp for people from the south and coastal areas like Karachi visiting valleys like Swat and Kaghan and northern areas like Gilgit, Skardu & Chitral located in the Hindu Kush mountains.

Understand

English Local Newspaper The Dawn, The News, The Nation & The Daily Times are national newspapers in English supplemented with local news sections. Business Recorder is the only newpaper providing national and international business news. However, newspapers are like New York Times, Los Angles Times, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, Khaleej Times, Gulf News, Sunday Times and etc., are also available. These international newspapers usually arrive in Islamabad a day after publishing. All newspapers (international, national and local) are available at book stores in leading hotels like Serena & Marriot. They can also be purchased from leading book stores like London Book House (Kohsar Market in sector F-6/3), Saeed Book Bank (Jinnah Super Market in sector F-7), and Mr. Books (Super Market in sector F-6).

By bus

Skyways and Daewoo are 2 of the nicer long-haul operators. Skyways offer some direct services to/from Islamabad and Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi. Daewoo has it’s own terminal on the road from Islamabad just outside Rawalpindi. The majority of buses arrive and depart from Rawalpindi, a few kilometres and a 45 minute taxi ride from Islamabad.You can call the Daewoo Station in advance for booking. They shall confirm a seat for you. The number is 051 111 007 008. You can travel to Peshawar, Lahore, D I Khan, Murree, Sialkot, Abottabad, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Multan, and recently they have started service between Karachi and Hyderabad.

Get around

Streets of IslamabadTaxis in Islamabad are abundant, popular and generally safe. Cost is around Rs20 – Rs30 per sector traveled, depending on your bargaining skills. Prices will be higher at night, especially departing from places like Jinnah Super (F-7). It is always advisable to agree the fare before travelling.

Car Hire is also a good way of getting around. Although road signs and directions are only available on main roads, Due to Islamabad being a relatively small city, It is easy to find your way around. There are various car hire companies in Blue Area F-6 and also in G-8 Markaz where cars can be hired with drivers to avoid paying large sums for security and also, to avoid having to find your way. All 5* and major hotels have their own car hire services and are relatively cheap. A tip to the driver at the end of the booking period is appreciated and advisable however, not an obligation.

In my opinion, the devil is really in the details and the implementation of this agreement. I have mixed feeling on this: It is hard to see how the situation in Swat can be controlled only through the military means; there has to be a political dimension. This is what the U.S. is also learning the hard way in Afghanistan where there is already a talk of having some sort of adjustment with “moderate Afghan Taliban”.

In an ideal world, you would have hoped that Pakistan army would have gained the upper hand in Swat and then they could have negotiated from the position of strength. Unfortunately this is not the case. Despite several attempts, the army could not make any significant gains in Swat. Part of this is due to bad strategy and partly due the nature of guerrilla-warfare. Pakistan army was never trained to fight a counter-insurgency; fighting against India is what the focus has been so it does’t come as a surprise that it didn’t perform very well.

As far as their strategy goes, it was based primarily on using gunships and (artillery) shelling against suspected militant hide-outs. This approach is not very conducive to counter-insurgency because it leads to a lot of collateral damage. As the U.S. experience in Iraq shows, your mission in such a situation must really be to “secure the population”. This was the fundamental change in strategy that U.S. Gen. David Petraeus made but such a change requires putting a lot of boots on the ground, taking a lot more causalities and better intelligence. Unfortunately the Pak army was unwilling and incapable to take this approach which resulted in the bloody Swat stalemate.

Against this backdrop, the agreement can offer a way out if government can play its cards correctly. It should also be noted that this is not the first time that Swat will be under the so-called Shari’s law. This was the case for decades when Swat/Dir region was part of the princely state and life was governed by “Customary law”. The elected representatives of the Swat region have also been in favor of incorporating some populist militant demands such as Qazi courts and quick and simply justice with a 6 months deadline to process all cases.

One can hope that by incorporating the populist demands and a willingness to understand and work with local sensitivities, the authorities can gain credibility with the local population and take some of the wind out of the insurgency’s sails. I am under no illusion that the likes of Molana Fazlullah will be willing to give up their weapons and stop fighting but hopefully such a agreement will isolate the hard core extremist elements from the deeply conservative local population and deprive them from one of their main arguments. It is a lot easier to deal with insurgents when they don’t enjoy widespread local support.