Instead of taking the feelings of Kashmir to the world to bring “Peace”, Zubin’s musical concert has rather broken the “Peace” here!
In my last column, “The Beautiful Prison Concert” I
had mentioned about a popular saying, “Man proposes, God disposes”.
Quite often the events take such turns that the result is diametrically
opposite to what the planners had intended to achieve from it! This is
exactly what has happened during the much hyped Zubin Mehta concert. He
had declared that he has come to take the feelings of Kashmir
(Ehsaas-e-Kashmir) to the world and it would be a concert for Peace.
Whatever may have been his genuine and true intentions, he has succeeded
in taking the reality of Kashmir (Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir) to the entire
world through the freely flowing blood of Kashmiris. Interestingly,
Michael Steiner, the German Ambassador, already known for creating many
controversies in the past, has landed himself in yet another
controversy! In fact, as reported by New York Times, Nikolaus Bachler,
the General Manager of the Bavarian State Opera, whose Orchestra
performed in Shalimar, in a written statement said, “We were expecting
to play for the people of Kashmir in the spirit of brotherhood and
humanity, but the Organisers turned this concert into an exclusive,
elitist event for a selected, invited crowd and this understandably
became a political issue, which is a pity and against the aim of art.”
The concert
itself instead of being lively and warm had a tinge of melancholy over
it. Zubin appeared quite tense and not in his real jovial and warm self.
Perhaps the tension all round was weighing on his mind? Most of the
guests seemed distraught and solemn faced as if instead of a concert,
they were sitting in a funeral! The other reason probably was total lack
of knowledge and experience about the western classical music among the
major portion of the invitees. The grimmest looking were the ministers
and bureaucrats sitting in the VIP area. Some of them were restless and
some were dozing. A few were rocking in their chairs. A few with Karakul
caps and beards were looking quite funny sitting in a western classical
music concert. The music appeared total Greek to them even though they
may have enjoyed the strains from time to time. They may have never
heard the names of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Hayden! Even the Chief
Minister and the Governor appeared quite subdued as they may have been
getting reports of the shutdown and the brewing trouble in different
parts of the valley.
The start and finish of the concert
with the combination of a Kashmiri and a Bavarian Orchestra did not
gel. Probably they did not have enough practice in combining the two
different strains? It would have been better if the Kashmiris had been
allowed to play independently short pieces at the start and the finish
to welcome and say good-bye to the Bavarian guests. The music in the
romantic garden of Kashmir is an ultimate thing in what the Chief
Minister quoting a famous poet, called the Paradise on Earth. The most
important ingredient for the show had been the Peace which in the real
sense has been missing from the valley notwithstanding the superficial
calm. Unfortunately, the show was being held in an imprisoned valley.
Apart from the shutdown called by various parties, the government itself
had blocked most of the routes not only as a precautionary security
measure but to thwart the attendance of youth and civil society members
to the parallel show, the reality of Kashmir (Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir) being
held at the same time in the municipal park. According to eye witnesses
the parallel show was well attended in spite of barricades and hurdles
put up by the state authorities and was quite a success. Many were in
tears while watching various performances by the youth about the reality
of oppression and cruelty being inflicted on Kashmiris for past few
decades.
Interestingly, Zubin closed his
concert with what he termed as “Thunder and Lightning”. Probably he had
some intuition about the guns booming in Badshah Chowk and Shupian?
Immediately, after the conclusion, the live telecast continued and one
could hear the Azan (the call to prayer) from a local mosque! The
Kashmiris need to be thankful to Zubin and Steiner for giving a boost to
their movement. Incidentally, the movement in Kashmir has earlier too
received a boost by people who never intended to do so. Jagmohan in
nineties by ordering massacres including firing on a funeral procession;
Sinha by converting the holy pilgrimage into a “Battle for Amarnath”
and now Zubin, instead of bringing peace by breaking it!
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