Srinagar Rocks not by Bombs but by the sound of Music

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Nishchal N. Pandey, The Weekly Telegraph - 2nd July 2008
 


The South Asia Foundation (SAF) organized a rare concert of “The Singhs” and the “Junoon” groups in Srinagar in the third week of May. The very fact that such a lively performance by two well known groups of South Asia was held in Srinagar is an achievement in itself and moreover, it is a great contribution to peace and harmony in the region.

Although being a scenic place to the equivalent of being called a Jannat (heaven), Kashmir is always on the news for all the wrong reasons – from bomb blasts to protest rallies. But this time, the youngsters of Srinagar in their thousands thronged the main venue of the concert in the lawns of the convention hall well before time. They cheered, yelled and danced, notwithstanding the threats by a handful of militant groups and as the evening drew to a close it was evident that the concert had been successful in achieving one thing which years of curfew and control was unable. The young people of Kashmir are fed up with politics of hatred; militancy and divide and wish to be hand in hand with their fellow friends throughout South Asia. Jeet Singh, of the “The Singhs” Group (below right photo) was one of the main attractions of the concert where he sang a few of his popular numbers whilst girls, some with their heads covered (see the left photo above) cheered and danced. It was a big problem for the Srinagar police as the audience was much bigger than anticipated. There were even police patrol boats in the nearby Dal lake on standby.

After that, the Pakistani group Junoon played most of its popular songs including “Saiyoni” which was also taken by the crowd with great receptiveness. This is the first time that a Pakistani rock band has played in Srinagar. A lot of VIPs including former President of Sri Lanka who also happens to be the Chairperson of the SAF-Sri Lanka chapter Chandrika Kumaratunga, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Dr. Farooq Abdullah and a host of other dignitaries were present.

This event was preceded by the annual SAF governing council meeting where past and proposed activities of the Foundation were discussed. Due to the untiring efforts of the SAF Founder UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singh, not only this concert but also a host of other activities and projects in Kashmir are currently being undertaken. For instance, the President of India inaugurated the “Institute of Kashmir Studies” which is being established solely with the support of the SAF and Ambassador Madanjeet Singh. Also, a primary school building ravaged by the earthquake is being reconstructed through the generous contribution of SAF.

South Asian countries due to their mutual suspicion and occasional conflict have hindered viable economic cooperation in the region but it is due to the personal commitment of personalities such as Ambassador Singh and organizations such as the SAF, that regional cooperation and people to people contacts at all levels have been promoted in the last 7-8 years.