PESHAWAR – As extremists are hell-bent to eliminate culture and different forms of art, their fear has compelled famous singer of Pashto Nazia Iqbal to leave Peshawar, as she opted to shift to Islamabad. She is not the first singers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to leave the province, as least 15 well-known figures besides many others have earlier migrated to other areas and even abroad whereas several including Alam Zeb Mujahid left the showbiz world.
Some like Gulzar Alam and Shahinsha Bacha denounced music publicly and joined ‘Tablighi Jamaat’, the Islamic movement spreading Islamic teachings around the world. Nazia, who had been intimidated and threatened through letters, living near Ishrat Cinema Chowk in Gulbahar-4, has purchased her own house in Sector E of the Bahria Town, Islamabad.
However, sources say she would visit Peshawar for performing at cultural programmes. Taliban have imposed strict ban on dance and music while do not deter to killing those who defied their orders. One such example is of Shabana, one of the celebrated dancers, who was shot dead in Mingora in January 2009.
Armed men had dragged Shabana away from her home while she begged them to shoot her rather than slit her throat.
