Catchy Pakistani hit song pushes anti-terrorism message

Last Updated: Thursday, August 23, 2007 | 4:27 PM ET

CBC Arts

A group of Pakistani pop artists has collaborated on a song with an anti-terrorist message that has become an anthem among Pakistani youth.

Yeh Hum Naheen, or This is Not Us, is being played thousands of times on the pop channels, was No. 1 for four weeks on MTV and has seen thousands of downloads.

Haroon Rashid, who records under the name Haroon, is a Pakistani pop star, composer, musician and producer.
(Yeh Hum Naheen/Say No To Terrorism)

Behind its catchy, romantic tune is a powerful political message, with lyrics such as: "This story that is being spread in our names is a lie. These stamps of death on our forehead are the signs of others."

The song is the brainchild of British Muslim Waseem Mahmood, a media consultant who says the anti-terrorism message has hit a chord with young Muslims.

"We're talking about Muslims standing up and saying that terrorism and whatever else that happens in their name, it's not them," he told CBC News.

"It's a minority, but the majority are a peace-loving people really. That's what the song is about."

The inspiration for the project was his own children, who were "fed up" with Islam being equated with terrorism, and worried about fellow Muslims in Britain who believe the only way to follow their religion is to battle all the influences of the West.

"I think they were concerned that whenever there was anything in the news about acts of terrorism, it was always Muslim terrorists behind it and that was not the religion that they were brought up to believe in," he said.

His idea was to create a song for young Pakistani Muslims who want to disassociate themselves from terrorism.

"Before we go out and tell the world who we are and who we're not, I think we have to get the message across to our own people," Mahmood said.

"So the idea was that we had to start in Pakistan with young Pakistanis, young Muslims."

Pakistani pop diva Hadiqa Kiani is the only woman singing on Yeh Hum Naheen. A children's choir sings backup vocals.
(Yeh Hum Naheen/Say No To Terrorism)

The singers and musicians involved — Haroon Rasheed, Ali Zafar, Hadiqa Kiani, Shafaqat Amanat Ali, Ali Haider and pop duo Strings — have a huge fanbase in Pakistan.

Mahmood approached them personally with the idea and said it wasn't difficult getting them on board.

"Pop stars in Pakistan — they above most people understood what the problem was. They are the ones being brought down by a lot of fundamentalists as being sinners.  Music is not seen as being part of their religion," he said.

Not everyone buys into the message and Mahmood admits he has heard negative comments from some Pakistanis, but his main concern is keeping the interest of young listeners.

"If the message is getting out there and people are beginning to buy into it, then I've achieved what I set out to do," he said.

And while the song, in Urdu, was a hit in Pakistan, it soon spread far beyond the borders of the country.

A limited release in the U.K. sold out in hours, it is getting airplay on radio there and there is talk of an English version, done in collaboration with Western artists. A YouTube music video is getting thousands of hits.

Wants stars to buy into peace movement

Mahmood has big plans for his hit tune — perhaps an Arabic language version or a Live 8 style concert in 2009. And he's hoping Western stars will buy into an international movement dedicated to peace between East and West.

"Terrorism is as big an issue as climate change and poverty reduction," he said.

He has set up a foundation, Yeh Hum Naheen/Say No to Terrorism, to support the effort.