Tuesday, March 22 2005 12:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Birmingham Rep Theatre, the scene of riots following the staging of a controversial Sikh play Behzti (dishonour), now plans to stage a new drama showing the seamy side "mujra", a decadent culture of dance and song, with sexual exploitation of girls.

The new play "Bells", by a young Anglo-Pakistani playwright Yasmin Whittaker Khan, seeks to expose the "secret world of the Mujra", or courtesan house, Khan said.

According to him, the play shows how Muslim girls find themselves trapped in "mujra" and exposes the hypocrisy of the otherwise religious men who attend them.

The play, featuring "non-graphic" sexual scenes, is set in a fictional British mujra and opens at the theatre on tomorrow (Mar 23, 2005).

The theatre had become a battleground shortly before Christmas last year (2004) on the question of staging the Sikh play "Behzti", a black comedy depicting rape and murder in a Sikh temple.

For several nights, angry Sikhs protested against "Behzti" alleging it had grossly insulted their religion before storming the Birmingham Rep, leading to cancellation of the show and its female playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti went into a hiding after receiving death threats.

Whittaker Khan said that there was no comparison between portraying sexual abuse and murder in a holy place and showing the low life of a brothel.

"Is it safe to put it on? Yes, I hope that it will be safe. The theatre has thought about it and they do think it is safe. The play is provocative. I don't mind if there are peaceful protests although I can't see why there should be," she said.

The tradition of courtesan houses in Pakistan stretches back for centuries. It is a subject of fierce debate, as to whether they are harmless entertainment venues, where young women sing and dance for men.

Whittaker Khan, born a Muslim to Pakistani parents and then adopted by an English family, has no strong faith. She says the Pakistan film industry has glamorised "mujras", as harmless. She alleges "mujras" now operating in Britain and in Pakistan are brothels. Girls sing and dance and then money is thrown at them on stage to buy their favours.

She claims she knows of at least four "mujra" clubs in this country and has made several visits to them for research. She wants to expose the misery that goes on within them.

"In Pakistan, sometimes girls are kidnapped or they have arrived there after divorce or misfortune, or they can be born into the club," Whittaker Khan said.