Pakistan's westward drift: A stern Wahhabism is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the Sufis and saints,

Radical Islamism and Jihad

Pakistan's westward drift: A stern Wahhabism is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the Sufis and saints

Among the Pakistani lower-middle and middle classes lurks a grim and humourless Saudi-inspired revivalist movement (which can be called ‘Saudi-isation’) that frowns upon every form of joyous expression. Lacking any positive connection to culture and knowledge, it seeks to eliminate ‘corruption’ by strictly regulating cultural life and seizing absolute control of the education system. “Classical music is on its last legs in Pakistan; the sarangi and vichtarveena are completely dead,” laments Mohammad Shehzad, a student of music. Indeed, teaching music in public universities is vehemently opposed by students of the Islami Jamaat-e-Talaba, religious fundamentalists who consider music haram. Kathak dancing, once popular among the Muslim elite of India, has no teachers left in Pakistan, and the feature films produced in the country are of next to no consequence. Meanwhile the Pakistani elites, disconnected from the rest of the population, comfortably live their lives through their vicarious proximity to the West.

http://newageislam.com/pakistan-s-westward-drift--a-stern-wahhabism-is-replacing-the-kinder,-gentler-islam-of-the-sufis-and-saints/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/712