(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Luna Carperse—my favorite restaurant in Islamabad, Pakistan—has been attacked, likely for serving alcohol to infidels. BBC reports:
“One wall of the restaurant has partly collapsed and many people have been injured,” an employee said.
Local media reported that two people were feared dead at the restaurant, which is popular with foreigners. “It’s a very bad situation,” an employee at Luna Caprese told the AFP news agency. “There are lots of injured people who have lost their limbs and legs,” the employee said.
I ate at Luna 30-40 times while in Pakistan during the first half of 2006. Located inside a house, it was the most relaxed spot in a city without a movie theater. AP has more:
It appeared to be the first attack targeting foreigners in a recent wave of violence.
Police have not determined whether the bomb was planted in the Luna Caprese’s back garden, or whether a suicide bomber attacked the restaurant, said police officer Irshad Abro. Two people were killed and nine hurt, he said.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Below is a description of Luna from a work in progress.
Feb 2006
Zaryan and I went to dinner with his cousin Sharoq. Over pizzas and a bottle of wine at one of the few restaurants in Islamabad that (illegally) served alcohol, we discussed the current state of Pakistani music. It was a mild winter night. We sat in a garden under a sliver moon sky, encircled by tables of Western aid workers and diplomats decked out in the local Pakistani garb and Pakistani government types dressed in Western business attire.
This spy novel setting was a fitting place to be discussing South Asian Islamic rock n’ roll. Shraoq was a musician like his brother, but he told us he was into different music. “My brother’s into, like, from the heart-’I Love You Baby’-me hurt so bad acoustic type shit. Me, I like Pink Floyd,” he said. “And Santana.”
I asked if any national acts were Islamabad-based. “Not really. Everything music industry related is in Karachi,” Sharoq told us. There used to be an underground scene in Lahore, he explained, but it’s dead now. The labels, cable music channels, artists, and venues had all moved down to Karachi, the New York of Pakistan, its media and commercial hub. Islamabad’s upcoming Sweet Leaf Jam was an extension of the underground concerts happening in Karachi. I was interested that the concert’s name was in reference to marijuana and asked Sharoq about the proliferation of hash use among young Pakistanis.
“Pretty much everyone smokes it. You know, it’s a grey area. The Prophet is surely against booze, but hash isn’t in the Koran. Lots of people drink here. Way more smoke hash. Wait until you see Sweet Leaf.”
We finished our wood oven pizzas, our heads dulled in a cheap wine haze. Sharoq had plans after dinner. Zaryan and I made a brief stop to buy a $2 bootleg DVD at a nearby strip mall before heading home.
TAGS: attack, Islam, Movie, Music, New York, Pizza, Slam
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