Statement from My Music Blog Regarding an “Ugly Coincidence”

I’m spending more of my time on my music blog these days; Commie Curmudgeon is going to be a much more occasional project, as far as I can tell, judging by my mood, etc.  But I’ll be stopping by here to do something once in a while…

And today, I posted a comment on that other blog which should carry over to Commie Curmudgeon: 

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Sometimes I post items about music originating from a certain place to coincide with world events.  Certainly, this was the case when I delved into Bangla music as Bangladesh was trying to recover from the cyclone.  However, when I posted the latest item, about a singer who was born in the North-West Frontier of Pakistan, in the now-embattled area of Swat, I had no idea that a couple of hours later, I would see news that Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated.  Bhutto was far from perfect, but this is still upsetting and disturbing news. 

Not much else I can say right now, except…  If this was done by fundamentalist terrorists, these are the people who are trying to bring about the kind of rule that would suppress the creative expression in music, dance, etc., that I have been supporting here (not to mention a whole lot of other things that they would stifle and suppress). 

I am deeply opposed to those kinds of movements and the tactics waged to advance them, though I am also strongly opposed to G.W. Bush and dictators like Musharraf.  It’s too bad that so many people feel they must support one oppressive. authoritarian force in order to oppose another.  There aren’t many these days who feel they can even dream about creating a movement for equality, liberty, and real democracy. 

But, anyway…  Just had to say something in light of this unfortunate coincidence. 

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This evening, I’ve been doing some research to check back on a group that I saw speak here in New York City some years ago, who gained attention in radical leftist circles here during the time between the invasion of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq.  They are called the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

I’ll probably be getting back to that topic sometime soon.