Rashida khatoon qawwali biography of alberta
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This is a very special post. Indeed, it is probably the most significant post since the Washerman’s Dog began. On offer tonight is a very rare (nay, extremely rare) collection of music from Afghanistan. These recordings were made in 1990 as a ‘labour of love’ by one of my colleagues in the UN when we both were posted in Pakistan.
The late 1980s were a period of intense activity in Afghanistan. The Soviets had admitted defeat (unlike the Americans today) and were in the process of pulling their forces back to Mother Russia. The bearded fanatics from whom, a few years hence would spring the Taliban, were punch drunk from their victory and cashed up with Saudi and American dollars. For secular, progressive and moderate Afghans, whether in Kabul or the sprawling refugee camps floating like human oceans around Peshawar and Quetta in Pakistan, life took a decided turn for the worse. Many were assassinated and plenty more were threatened with the same fate. Educated Afghan professionals who had managed to survive the Soviet occupation fled to Pakistan in great numbers. Although a peace accord had been signed in Geneva, on the ground, chaos was the reality.
| Dr Md Sadiq Fitrat 'Nashenas' |
Among the professionals who fled to Pakistan i
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