Traffic police in the city said on Thursday that they had launched a campaign to stop music being played in public transport due to complaints from women.
The authorities denied the move was in response to a reported warning from the Taliban, who consider music sinful according to their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. “No, there was no threat to the traffic police from anyone. It is entirely baseless,” Arif Hanif, the traffic police chief said. “We only got complaints from the women commuters and nothing else,” Hanif clarified. “And the campaign is aimed at the implementation of the law as the rules prohibit playing music in public transport,” he said. The congested roads of the chaotic city of 20 million are plied by a variety of public transport vehicles including buses, rickshaws and taxis. Drivers caught playing music will be fined and music players will be confiscated under the crackdown. The Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) launched an insurgency seven years ago that claimed nearly 7,000 lives.