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Bootleggersâ paradise in Pakâs âTalibanâ province
EFL:PESHAWAR : Business has never been better for the bootleggers of Peshawar . A year after a conservative Islamic bloc swept to power in northwest Pakistan , clandestine alcohol sellers speak of soaring demand for vodka and whisky - which are strictly prohibited. "Since the mullahs came into power we have been earning a lot of money," said one illicit trader in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "If you had to live here, youâd drink too!" Asking not to be identified, he said he was one of 15 dealers working for the largest bootlegging network in Peshawar , the teeming provincial capital. The group, he added, shifted alcohol worth $400,000 during this yearâs Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr alone. He and many others laugh off Western media descriptions of the six-party Islamic Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) coalition as the ânew Talibanâ. "I know the Taliban, the Taliban were friends of mine, and they ainât no Taliban" While some member parties openly support the ousted Afghan militia, and sometimes preach a hard line form of Islam, people in Peshawar say their bark is worse than their bite. Why, you may ask? Simple, in Peshawar, the people bite back. Posted by: Steve 2003-12-15 |
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