Fashion show defies Taliban in Pakistan's Peshawar
By A. Majeed (AFP)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Days after bombers tried to storm the US
consulate, models defied the Taliban to sashay down a catwalk in
Pakistan's troubled city Peshawar, flashing navels and exposing
shoulders.
Organisers told AFP that the private fashion show, arranged by a
private university in the northwestern metropolis of 2.5 million,
was intended as a stress reliever in a city that has been hard hit
by bomb and suicide attacks.
"The situation is very tense. The atmosphere is very stressful and
we arranged this show to bring some entertainment and as an
opportunity for young people to show their capabilities," Mohammad
Yasir, an organiser, told AFP.
"It was a great success. More people came than we expected," he
said.
Trussed up in glamorous confections of gauze and silk,
western-style skirts slashed to the knee, towering gladiator heels
and millinery, male and female models marched down the runway,
smouldering and pouting late Wednesday 7 April.
There were bare shoulders, trousers hanging from the hips and tops
slashed to well-toned navels -- a far cry from the heavy veils,
baggy trousers and body-hiding shirts favoured by the city's women
in public.
Strict security was in force for the event at Deans shopping plaza
in the heavily guarded and upmarket garrison-controlled central
area of Peshawar where Indian Bollywood tracks and western pop
blasted out of loudspeakers.
The show took place just 15 minutes' drive from the American
consulate -- targeted by Islamist militants armed with guns,
grenades and suicide car bombs who killed five security
officials.
"I am really happy that the fashion show was successfully held in
this stressful environment of Peshawar," Maheen Raza, a dress
designer told AFP.
While some models and designers came from the relatively moderate
capital Islamabad, others live in Peshawar, one of the most
conservative big cities in the country where fashion shows are
rare.
The city lies on the edge of Pakistan's tribal belt -- branded by
Washington a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous
place on Earth, where a secretive US drone war is targeting top
Islamist militant commanders.
The US consulate attack was the most audacious this year in
Pakistan, where insecurity, particularly in the northwest, has
raised concerns in the United States as Washington steps up the
fight in Afghanistan and against Al-Qaeda.
Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the consulate attack,
saying it was to avenge the US drone attacks and threatened further
assaults on Americans.
The United Nations announced a two-day closure of its offices in
Peshawar, citing security fears following a US consulate
attack.
Around 3,200 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks
over the last three years in Pakistan, blamed on militants opposed
to the US alliance.