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| A music Concert that drowned voices of hatred | | |
M.M.Khajooria
It was indeed a memo-
rable evening. Zuben
Mehta' soul stirring concert in the heavenly environs of Shalimar Mughal Garden in Srinagar was a great event-judge it by whatever standard you like. The innovative 'Jugal bandi' of European classical and Kashmiri classical music lent the event a unique flavour. The connoisseurs of music throughout the world who remained glued to their TV sets as the concert progressed in the fabulous Mugal Garden would savour the precious moments for a long time.
Separatist leaders Ali Shah Geelani and Umar Farooq, for different reason but the same purpose of furtherance of their own not so secret agendas kicked up a senseless and unnecessary controversy over the concert ( for invites only) which concerned music and music lovers alone. It was perhaps their own sense of guilt and fear of the reality of Kashmir ( the positive dimension) emerging on the scene that distorted and coloured the Ehsas-i-Kashmir(the feel of Kashmir) as divorced from and in conflict with Haqiqet-I-Kashmir ( the reality of Kashmir). The politically wide awake and shrewd Kashmiri had , however seen through their obsessive pranks years back though at a huge cost . It was no secret that the separatists had developed a massive vested interest in perpetuating economic distress, human misery and stalled development to further their pernicious agenda. They aimed to achieve this sordid goal through terrorism but hoisted the blame on the State government and government of India there by stoking fires of disaffection and hatred against India. Their sabre rat telling over Zubin Mehta concert sponsored by the German embassy in India, however exposed them completely.
The concert show cased Kashmir globally as a tourist destination in a manner and at a scale that would have taken State and central Tourism departments decades to achieve and that too at an astronomical cost. The primary beneficiaries of the windfall would, of course be the people Kashmir , who hugely depended on tourist trade. The common man understands and appreciates such initiatives but was unable to articulate for fear of reprisal by gun totting terrorists.
A day after the concert, I had the occasion to speak to a Kashmiri friend sympathetic towards "the cause' "what is your reaction to the Zebin Mehta concert"
I asked "Reaction? What was there to react to ?' he counter questioned. "I viewed the concert on TV out of curiosity. Kept on waiting for some sign of anti-movement rhetoric , pro India bias or any indication of German endorsements of Indian position on Kashmir, but there was nothing of the sort. It was just instrumental performance. Even though I am not conversant with European classical music, the music was quite pleasing to the ears." he added . There was a pause and then change of the topic. A non political retired police officer had this to say " "ACCHA THA. HUM SAB FAMILY NEY SATH BETH KAY THEKA. PAR. SAHIB ,JAB KASHMIRI BHI AA GAYAY TO BAHUT MAZA AIYA."
Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani, who lives and teaches in London and was no friend or admirer of India wrote in daily RISING KASHMIR, Srinagar, 08 Sept, 2013(Missed a God given opportunity?) "It is taking anger a bit too far than necessary, to state that Germany has betrayed Kashmir by sponsoring Ehsaas-e-Kashmir concert in a disputed territory. If the people of the 'disputed territory' feel that it is not time to engage in such ceremonies and rightly so because we are grieving the loss of a generation, the standard test should have been applied earlier to the performance of Pakistan's rock band Junoon as well." This is exactly what chief minister Omar Abdullah had argued. Dr Gilani went on to say ;
"One may have a myriad more issues with Omar Abdullah as chief minister, but he has put us all to a test stating, "The reality is its God given beauty and the irony is how man has conspired often to turn it into a living hell". There could hardly be a true son or daughter of Kashmir who would not start examining Omar's statement, he emphasised "Tomorrow when the sun rises again it will rise on the land that has seen pain and suffering, a land that is yearning for peace, today this evening, for few hours let us lift our spirit and lighten our souls and allow ourselves to dream for a peaceful tomorrow." He significantly concluded; It was to the credit of Chief minister Omar Abdullah that he solidly stood his ground on the issue of the concert and refused to be dissuaded or brow beaten . The over ground proxies of terrorists have lost a crucial round in the long battle for the minds of people of Kashmir. |
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