Taliban ruining life in Lahore

Washington Times:

Fear of Taliban rules and retribution has descended on this cosmopolitan city near the Indian border, with militants taking aim at fashion shows, nightclubs, sports and other entertainment that made Lahore the cultural capital of Pakistan.

With recent terrorist attacks and more subtle threats from black-bearded strangers in turbans and skullcaps, the city's artists and performers have stopped appearing in public. University coeds are being warned to cover their faces, and merchants are pulling CDs and DVDs from store shelves.

Faizaan Peerzada, chairman of the Rafi Peer theater workshop, which used to manage and arrange shows for more than 200 artists, said his clients "have become petrified."

"They don't want to sign up to do gigs, and people don't want to attend these events for fear of bomb threats," he said. "The result is at this time in Lahore, almost no cultural events are taking place."

One musician who used to be the drummer for a Pakistani band said he took a company job under duress from his mother.

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"This was the best city in the whole world," said event manager Aamir Mazhar, 29. "There was an energy, an enthusiasm and a life to Lahore which no other city could rival."

A terrorist attack last month targeting a visiting cricket team from Sri Lanka has jeopardized future sports events in the city. The specter of Talibanization is of particular concern to women and girls. The city is home to some of the best private girls schools in the country; in 2008, more than 50 such schools received bomb threats.

Last week, two girls studying at Kinnaird College - Lahore's premier higher-education institute for young women - were accosted on the street and told to wear burqas.

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There is much more.

The Taliban are some of the worst people in the world. They are control freaks in the extreme. The real Question in Pakistan today is whether anyone has the stomach to fight them. So far the answer appears to be no.