You try to speak the truth. Sometimes some people don’t like it; other times, the truth becomes popular.

Undeterred by criticism, the band members patiently faced the music. Today, the popular Pakistani group, Junoon, is on a roll. The band has survived, even thrived, on controversy.

They have touched base once again, after a hectic, successful tour of the US. High on the heady response generated, the band members are unperturbed by the debate generated by their latest song and video, No More. Shot in New York, with shades of 9/11, Junoon-bashers had accused them of having a pro-American stance. The band denies the attitude, stating that the song is anti-war, terrorism and violence. It is, they insist, about the clash of two polarised worlds...nothing more.

Flashback to a few months ago. To my first personalised encounter with the band, when I discover that music isn’t the only junoon with Salman Ahmed of the popular Pakistani pop band, Junoon, as I arrive at the video shoot of the band’s 2003 Cricket World Cup song, Mazaa zindagi ka, at the People’s Soccer Stadium in Lyari, a congested seaside settlement in Karachi. “It’s been my dream to play cricket in front of the camera,” confesses Salman, as he square-cuts an imaginary delivery to band members, Ali Azmat and Brian O’Connell.

A formidable contingent of Pakistan Rangers guards the stadium. “We’d mentioned on our web site that we’d be shooting the video here,” explains band manager, Shehryar Ahmed. “We didn’t want to deal with a mob, so we arranged for security.”

But, Lyari, in true Sufistic tradition, remains oblivious to the presence of the Sufi rock band. Otherwise, they might have arrived brandishing brickbats. Lyari is a Pakistan People’s Party stronghold and Junoon was ‘instrumental’ in highlighting the corruption of party leader Benazir Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, in a music video titled Ehtesab.

Junoon has often had to face the music for this political consciousness. While Bhutto’s government only banned the video, Nawaz Sharif’s government banned the group from television, from 1996 to 1999. Ali had told BBC World, after a concert in India, that he didn’t see any difference between playing in India or Pakistan; the fans seemed the same on either side. The statement caused a furor, particularly in the corridors of power.

But, the band survived, even thrived, on controversy. “You try to speak the truth,” explains Salman, “sometimes some people don’t like it; other times, the truth becomes popular. When the truth is popular then everyone wants to be seen with you. When it’s unpopular, then, you’re banished.”

The band is on a roll these days, thanks to the musical sensibilities of President Pervez Musharraf. A recent concert in Bangladesh, ‘the country that broke away from Pakistan’, was also memorable. Forty thousand people in Dhaka sang Dosti along with Junoon. “Music is a universal force of love. And it’s about people, not about presidents and prime ministers or politicians!” explains Salman.

The band’s previous World Cup song, Jazba Junoon had become the unofficial anthem of the 1999 event. The same jazba and junoon brought the band together more than a decade ago. For 13 lucky years, the trio, which has been making memorable music in Pakistan, has begun looking Westwards. Brian plans to return home to the US to look after ailing and ageing parents – like a good ‘Pakistani’ son. And Junoon’s music is following.

“I always knew that our music would appeal to Western listeners,” says Brian. “It has a strong Western rock base with layers of eastern folk to give it the unique sound which made Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan so successful.”

As Salman says, “It’s like going to a Rolling Stones party, meeting Ravi Shankar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, U2 and Led Zepellin walks in very late – that’s Junoon. But the party’s the Rolling Stones.” Brian is naturally excited about Junoon’s international debut for, “it draws more attention to Pakistan, for all the right reasons.”