Bucking the Forces of Oppression: Zeb & Haniya with "Rona Chor Diya"

One of the great things about co-hosting a global music show is the hope it gives me.  Especially in the present, while I write this blog, I read about the forces of repression and oppression overrunning areas of the world locked in turmoil.  Recently, a woman was stoned to death for adultery in Syria by forces belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  A few months ago, hundreds of girls were captured at a school in northern Nigeria, and while some have escaped, the leader of the group that captured them has threatened to sell them into slavery.  International sex trafficking has risen to unprecedented levels.  It seems as if everywhere I look, advances and gains that humanity has made over the past 50 years, especially women, is under assault by those who would roll back the clock to times just this side of barbarity.

And then, when I am at a low ebb, I come across Zeb & Haniya in my music collection.  I had seen them in concert a couple of years ago and purchased a CD from them (which unfortunately didn't work when I got it home) and we've played them a few times on our show.  Pakistan is not the hub of the most enlightened thinking in the world at times, particularly with the Taliban still controlling a lot of areas of the country.  Yet Pakistan once, and still in many areas, was a country where women made many gains under more secular rule.  To see two Pakistani women who, it is true, were allowed the space to develop their musical talents in the United States while in college but who, at the same time, have become popular for their talent in Pakistan and have pledged to bring happiness to Pakistan through their music in a time of extremism strikes me as extremely brave.

Zeb & Haniya's music doesn't fit one description, covering alternative, folk, blues and easy listening. Zebunnisa Bangash and Haniya Aslam are cousins who began writing music together when studying at Smith College and Mt. Holyoke College in the US. Zeb has sang from age 8 and studied under Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan. Haniya is a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. They began crafting music in the basement of Zeb's dorm between 2000 and 2003 with a rough version of their song, Chup. After an enthusiastic response from their college community, they recorded a version and another song titled Yaad. The songs spread on the internet and made it to Pakistan's radio airwaves. They released their debut album Chup! in 2008 and following the album's success began to do live performances. They have been hailed as one of the first, if not the first, all female band in Pakistan.  They sing mostly in Urdu, and their songs, though often with a pop feel, draw on Pashto and Dari folk traditions and artists such as Suzanne Vega, Turkish artist Barış Manço and Muddy Waters. Rona Chor Diya is from their album Chup! (2010). This version is from their Coke Studio Sessions show in Pakistan and features Javed Bashir as guest artist.