The ‘Drama’ Over The ‘Concert’

So much has been said and written about the moral ethical and political propriety of the German Ambassador Michael Steiner’s brainchild to hold ‘Ehasas-e-Kashmir’, a musical concert in Kashmir, that one is disinclined to add yet another voice to the deafening cacophony of assertions, reservations and objections. However, when one realises that at the end of the day, the pleas for cancellation of this musical concert have fallen on deaf ears and that the sponsors of this event have decided to go ahead despite widespread criticism from the separatist leadership and a section of the civil society, it is time to introspect on the larger issue.  

Therefore, instead of continuing to cry ‘foul’ and wasting all our energies in just expressing objections to the conduct of this event, it may be more prudent for us to examine this whole issue, rationally and sans emotions. And this is something which is long overdue as the time has come when we can no longer ignore the fact that that despite having a UN resolution in our favour, making huge sacrifices and undergoing untold sufferings, the international community does not seem to be serious about Kashmir. So, we need to ask ourselves the basic question- Why is it so and try to understand as to why the others don’t seem to understand our viewpoint and why is no one serious about taking the views of the separatist leadership and civil society more seriously! 

The separatists and members of the civil society, who feel that holding a musical concert in Kashmir at this time is inappropriate, may have their own reasons and these certainly need to be respected. However, in voicing their protest against the same, separatist leaders unfortunately churned-out political interpretations, which apparently did not seem to be very convincing to the sponsors . The Hurriyat (G) chairman’s observation that “The international events held in disputed territory interfere with its status. Any sort of international activity, be it political, diplomatic, cultural or sports will have an adverse effect on disputed nature of Kashmir,” may sound convincing to us, but has not found many takers outside Kashmir. And this is simply because, everyone is aware that one event or one incident by itself cannot change the character of what has formally been accepted as a ‘dispute’ by the United Nations. 

India has been holding elections in Kashmir for all these years and the people have been participating in the same. However, despite its concerted efforts, has New Delhi been able to convince the international community that mere exercise of franchise by Kashmiris is irrefutable proof of their acceptance of the existing arrangement and thus, the ‘disputed status’ of Kashmir should be treated as ‘resolved’? And as the answer is ‘No’, then how can we expect anyone to be convinced by the Hurriyat (G) chairman’s argument that the concert “will have an adverse effect on disputed nature of Kashmir”? Moreover, if there was even the slightest chance of this happening, then would Pakistan have maintained its stoic silence on this issue as it has now done? If India has consistently failed to convince the international community that the UN resolutions on Kashmir are ‘irrelevant’ today, how can a mere musical extravaganza achieve the same? Obviously, the ‘think-tank’ of the Hurriyat (if it indeed has one), did not do its ‘home-work’ well!

The more worrying issue here is that by this statement, the Hurriyat (G) chairman has given the impression that the separatists are espousing a cause which has a fragile foundation that can’t even withstand the aftermath of a musical concert. While announcing the event, the German Ambassador Michael Steiner had taken pains to clarify that this event was meant to serve as “a message of hope and encouragement to the people of Kashmir.” This statement in itself conveys unambiguously that in Germany’s perception, things were not normal in Kashmir- why else should there be a need for sending “a message of hope and encouragement to the people of Kashmir”! Yet, instead of using this as a positive development, which is in fact an international admission that ‘all is not well’ in Kashmir, the venerable Hurriyat (G) chairman chose to see negativity in it and thus turned an ‘opportunity’ into a ‘threat’.

However, what is most surprising is that the Hurriyat (G) chairman has now gone on record to say the Zubin Mehta “is basically a Jew, who propagates Zionism through his musical shows” and this racist remark is bound to erode the ideological character of the Kashmir struggle. It is rather unfortunate that while our leaders are doing everything possible to counter New Delhi’s attempts to portray the Kashmir problem as a communally inspired movement, we have the guiding light of this struggle making racist remarks and that too against an apolitical person like Zubin Mehta. One can well appreciate the Hurriyat (G) chairman’s anguish on account of his demand for cancellation of the musical concert being spurned, but then, does it behoove a person of his stature, to indulge in racial vilification? The reader is the best judge.

While the separatists have been diplomatically uncharitable in their remarks, the civil society group that shot off a letter to the German Embassy protesting against the musical concert too has fared no better. It is unthinkable that a conglomerate of such highly educated, accomplished and discerning people would be so naïve to unceremoniously assault German sensitivities by saying, “ legitimising an occupation via a musical concert is completely unacceptable. Art as propaganda as abundantly documented, was put to horrific use in Nazi Germany.” Though the enlightened members may have intended to draw a similarity between Hitler’s oppressive regime of a bygone era and the present regime in New Delhi, reviving memories of the Nazi era, which Germany genuinely wishes to forget, they have made a grave error. 

The separatists and civil society can no longer afford to give an impression of being so desperate that they automatically jump-in to exploit any issue without examining the merits of their demands. Neither should they convey the impression that they are floundering aimlessly and merely clutching at straws by raising ‘non-issues’. Calling for a Hartal or organising a parallel cultural event just to show dissent to the musical concert are merely juvenile solutions that serve no meaningful purpose but undermine the entire spectrum of the Kashmir struggle. There is a need to be more discerning before taking up an issue and this is only possible if our leaders holistically analyse an issue and formulate a comprehensive plan of action. The present practice of spontaneously reacting to events solely on emotions, without sitting down to chalk out a strategy to justify or defend the demands is self- defeating and causes embarrassment and this is what hurts every self- respecting Kashmiri. 

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