PARIS: Staccato lyrics may be no match for Bashar Assad’s military firepower, but two brothers, who fled to Paris from Syria and perform as “Refugees of Rap,” find sniping with words a liberating experience.
Having grown up officially stateless in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Yaser and Mohamed Jamous rap in Arabic about the war they have fled and their new life in France.
“We chose the name because for us, rap represents a country where we can say what we think,” Mohamed, 28, told AFP.
“And we’re seeking asylum there.”
Over a pounding beat, solemn music blending high piano keys and low violin tones, the brothers “spit,” or speak, the chorus in unison: “We have to wake up, stop dreaming. The time for silence is long gone, swept away by words.”
The lyrics are from their 2011 song “The Age of Silence,” one of the last they sung before fleeing Syria via Lebanon.
Performing their hip-hop at a Paris community center, the brothers said the song had been the “first time we dared speak up openly against the (Assad) regime” despite the risk in doing so.
“One word, and you got 20 years (in prison) or death. Here, we wanted to say that the time for silence is over.”
The duo were born and raised in the Yarmuk camp for Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of Damascus, which was once home to 160,000 people — including Syrians — but has been ravaged by fighting.
Yaser and Mohamed left Syria in early 2013 as fighting for control of the camp intensified.
The brothers created “Refugees of Rap” in 2007 with two friends, an Algerian and a Syrian, and were one of the first such groups to emerge out of Syria.
It now comprises just the two of them — the Syrian member refused to leave and the Algerian went to Germany.
Released in 2010, their first album recounts living in the overcrowded camp, as they advocate for the Palestinian cause.
Then, after 2011, the revolt provided inspiration.
They had completed eight tracks for the second album when they began receiving anonymous threats on social media.
From Syria to Paris, music provides haven for ‘Refugees of Rap’
From Syria to Paris, music provides haven for ‘Refugees of Rap’
In southeast Pakistan, Ramadan brings Hindus and Muslims closer
MITHI: Partab Shivani, a Hindu in Muslim-majority Pakistan, has fasted on and off during Ramadan for years, but this time is different as he practices abstinence for the entire holy month.
Every year, he and his friends in the southeastern city of Mithi arrange iftar, when Muslims break their daily fast, to foster peace and solidarity between the two religions.
“I believe we need to promote interfaith harmony. First, we are humans — religions came later,” Shivani, a 48-year-old social activist, told AFP, adding that he also reads the teachings of the Buddha.
“His message is about peace and ending war. Peace can spread through solidarity and by standing with one another. Distance only widens the gap between people,” he added.
Ninety-six percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people are Muslim. Just two percent are Hindu, most of them living in rural areas of Sindh province where Mithi is located.
In Mithi itself, most of the 60,000 inhabitants are Hindu.
Many of the city’s Hindus also observe Ramadan and iftar has become a social gathering where people from both faiths happily participate.
“This has been a wonderful tradition of ours for a very long time,” said Mir Muhammad Buledi, a 51-year-old Muslim friend who attended Shivani’s iftar gathering.
“It is a beautiful example of harmony between the two communities.”
Like brothers
Discrimination against minorities runs deep in Pakistan.
Following the end of British rule in South Asia in 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
That triggered widespread religious bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, freedom of religion or belief is under constant threat, with religiously motivated violence and discrimination increasing yearly.
State authorities, often using religious unrest for political gain, have failed to address the crisis, the independent non-profit says.
But such tensions are absent in Mithi.
“I am a Hindu but I keep all the fasts during this month,” said Sushil Malani, a local politician. “I feel happy standing with my Muslim brothers.
“We celebrate Eid together as well. This tradition in the region is very old.”
Restaurants and tea stalls are closed across Pakistan during Ramadan.
Ramesh Kumar, a 52-year-old Hindu man who sells sweets and savoury items outside a Muslim shrine, keeps his push cart covered and closed until iftar.
“There is no discrimination among us if someone is Muslim or Hindu. I have been seeing this since my childhood that we all live together like brothers,” he said.
Muslim shrine, Hindu caretaker
Locals say Mithi’s peaceful religious coexistence can be traced to its remote location, emerging from the sand dunes of the Tharparkar desert, which borders the modern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Cows — considered sacred in Hinduism — roam freely in Mithi city, as they do in neighboring India.
At two Sufi Muslim shrines in the middle of the city, Hindu families arrange meals, bringing fruit, meals and juices for their Muslim neighbors to break their fasts.
“We respect Muslims,” said Mohan Lal Malhi, a Hindu caretaker of one of the shrines.
Mohan said his parents and elders taught him to respect people regardless of religion or color, and the traditions pass from one generation to the next.
Local residents said both communities consider their social relationships more important than their religious identity.
“You will see a (Sikh) gurdwara, a mosque, and a shrine standing side by side here,” Mohan said. “The atmosphere of this area teaches humanity.”
