ISLAMABAD – Pakistani police have arrested all four members of an Islamabad based jazz band named Cock Disturbance for blasphemy. The group was arrested after performing an impromptu concert in a mosque where they called for the resignation of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Cock Disturbance now faces a maximum punishment of death if convicted. The four will be sentenced later this week. Their arrests are attracting attention around the world as a sign of Pakistan’s increasing intolerance of free expression.
RIGHT: Cock Disturbance plays their last show before being arrested. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
Music is technically legal in Pakistan, however, any jazz music that is played inside of a mosque must be approved by a local cleric and at least five citizens with “exceptional taste for fine arts.” Many Islamabad residents do not believe Cock Disturbance is a valid musical group because they do not feel they meet the criteria for “audible art.”
Dozens of Cock Disturbance supporters filled a park near the Presidential Palace wearing what appeared to be condoms on their heads and chanting “Free Cock Disturbance!” In an attempt to disperse the crowd, military units fired rubber bullets that appeared to explode directly through the protesters’ bodies leading many civil rights advocates to conclude the bullets were actually real.
Many celebrities including Moby, Robbie Williams, and David Cassidy have called for the release of Cock Disturbance and have asked their own fans to start sending emails and letters to the Pakistani government condemning the arrest of Cock Disturbance and calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
You had me at the title.
I heard Madonna came out and said something about Obama being a black Muslim, wait… that’s not satire, that is real.
Free Cock Disturbance!