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Cross-cultural band rocks
for peace
Pakistan's Junoon turning up volume to promote understanding
Islamabad, Pakistan -- The members of South Asia's hottest rock band have
crossed innumerable hurdles together, bound by a love of music and a belief in
promoting global peace.
Now the Pakistani-American trio Junoon is battling to keep its message of
tolerance alive in an increasingly polarized Sept. 11 world. The group includes
one U.S.-born Christian and two Pakistani Muslims, who sing in Urdu, Punjabi and
English.
"I am constantly forced to defend my belief in the average American against the
growing perception that the principles for which America stands are being
compromised, while defending Pakistan against the image of fundamentalism," said
lead guitarist and lyricist Salman Ahmad. For the first time in its decade-long
history, Junoon ("passion" in Urdu) is performing songs in English in a
desperate attempt to reach a global audience.
The lyrics to a new unnamed song about conflicts in Iraq, Kashmir and the Middle
East show Junoon's growing political activism: "A blue sky dripping red.
A sea of oil anoints the dead. The god of war is the son of man. This ain't no
cosmic plan."
Junoon traces its beginnings to a friendship between two music-loving teenagers
20 years ago -- Ahmad and school pal Brian O'Connell -- in Tappan, New York. At
the time, Ahmad's father, a pilot for Kuwait airlines, was based in the United
States.
"My first girlfriend, my first rock concert, the first time I picked up a guitar
-- all these things happened in America," Ahmad recalled.
The young Pakistani joined a garage band called Eclipse formed by O'Connell
before returning to his native country in 1981. Ten years later, he invited his
American friend to Pakistan to join him and a singer named Ali Azmat in a "Sufi
rock" band that mixed Western rock with Eastern rhythms.
Since then, Junoon has sold more than 20 million records worldwide and has
gained fans who cross political, social and cultural boundaries.
The band's melodic blend of Sufi mysticism and modern-day pragmatism resonates
strongly in a region marred by the rise and fall of the Taliban, a nuclear arms
race between Pakistan and India, and the ongoing bloodshed in Kashmir.
NOT ALL BAYWATCH
"Americans don't realize that our culture is portrayed very differently outside
the U.S.," said bass guitarist O'Connell. "It's not all Baywatch and CNN, but
you can't blame people here for thinking that when that is their total exposure
to America, just as you can't blame Americans for thinking Pakistan is all
turbans and covered women. Our message of cultural exchange and understanding
has become all the more appropriate after the (Sept. 11) attacks."
As a result, Junoon is very popular in neighboring India, "which is unusual for
a Pakistani band," according to Amir Khan, the owner of India's Atlantic Video.
Many Pakistanis take pride in the band's universal appeal.
"Anybody can listen to their songs and love them. In that, they are like the
Beatles," said Mohammad Iqbal, a 24-year-old book seller at Islamabad's Jinnah
market. "People here are disheartened by our own situation, by politics,
by Kashmir and the world. Junoon makes people smile for a while."
Even religious leaders have good things to say about the group.
"While I don't always agree with them or the images they may put on for young
people," said Attiq-ul-Rehman, a mullah at the Kohsar mosque in Islamabad,
"their messages of love and humanity are solid."
Their messages, however, haven't always been popular with the political
establishment.
In 1996, Junoon's video for the single "Ehtesaab," or "Accountability," featured
a polo pony dining at a luxury hotel. The image was widely seen as an indictment
of Pakistan's corrupt political elite, specifically former Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto. Both the song and video were banned from state television.
"It put us in some really hot water, but at the same time, it made us very
popular among people across the region, and suddenly we were political," said
O'Connell, who, like Ahmad, is in his late 30s.
Two years later, Junoon encountered more political fallout during a sold- out
stadium tour of India behind the band's No. 1 album "Azadi" ("Freedom"). India
had been testing nuclear devices, causing Ahmad to urge Delhi and Islamabad to
inspire each other to improve education, health and economic development rather
than nuclear proliferation.
"It seemed like common sense to me but the politicians were incredibly angry,"
said Ahmad.
'WE ARE STILL HERE'
In response, then-Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif banned Junoon from the
airwaves. And since then, the band has had little success obtaining visas to
play in India.
"While governments have come and gone and politicians sent into exile, we are
still here," said O'Connell. (Current Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is a
big fan who has appeared on stage with the group, clapping to the beat.)
After Sept. 11, Junoon raced to the United States to do a series of shows at
universities and high schools. Last October, it was the only Pakistani band to
participate in a worldwide concert on Daniel Pearl Music Day to remember the
U.S. reporter murdered in Karachi -- Junoon's hometown. Judea Pearl, Daniel's
father, called Ahmad to tell him that his son admired the trio's music.
Meanwhile, O'Connell says that he has been seriously considering a return to the
United States after living 12 years in Pakistan. Just last week, the father of
two young daughters (his wife is Pakistani) ran into an anti-U.S. protest in
Karachi while buying vegetables. He escaped physical injury but protesters
dented his car.
"It has happened so many times I can't count the number that someone comes up to
me, sees my white face and starts screaming," he said. "But at the same time,
fans come up and thank me for sticking it out, for sticking to the message."
Added Ahmad: "The message of Sept. 11 was not to wake up and mistrust each
other, but to reach out to one another -- create bridges, not burn them."
Juliette Terzieff
San Francisco Chronicle
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