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By Mariam Nihal
The political war between India and Pakistan is nothing new. However an Indian political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was quick to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to Pakistani artists to leave the country after the aftermath of the Uri attack. Even Nawaz Sharif and Modi lacked competency and failed to declare a national emergency or go to war as fast as MNS was able to proclaim its fight against terrorism. Which makes you wonder how threatened could India really be by Pakistani artists?
It would seem then that MNS had assessed Atif Aslam, Coke Studio Pakistan, Fawad Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, as more dangerous threats than a nuclear war.
Foreign policy is no longer a political domain.
“We give a 48 hour deadline to Pakistani actors and artists to leave India or MNS will push them out,” said Amey Khopkar, MNS Chitrapat Sena president. Apparently kicking out the talent India brought home was the answer to resolving the Kashmir issue and also played a part in ending terrorism.
If art had that kind of power, it would have been illegal.
If you are baffled, you are not alone. It actually gets worse. Many self-acclaimed nationalists support the madness. It is all over the Internet.
This attitude has chilling echoes. Art and artists have ideas and the epigram, “when I hear the words culture I reach for my gun” encapsulates the conflict between art, artists and ideas and the extreme reaction of a state.
Many forgotten names also emerged on social media, one being the Indian singer Abhijeet, whose singing career ended the day India heard Atif Aslam.
After Aslam’s concert was recently called off in Gurgaon in India, Abhijeet thought it was a good idea to publicly expose his long-term defeat and insecurities by celebrating the move. Unfortunately he still has no shows in India. If you are reading this then know that Sonu Nigam is on a world tour promoting ‘music beyond boundaries’ with none other than Atif Aslam right now. Unfortunately for some, the shows are sold-out across USA and Canada to hundreds and thousands of patriotic Indians and Pakistanis living there. But feel free to scrutinize their nationalism, which is now going to be problematic.
Abhijeet even went on to criticize Salman Khan who recently said that Pakistani actors who come to India are artists and not terrorists. Pakistan singer Shafqat Amanat Ali’s concert in Bengaluru was also cancelled. An Indian singer reportedly replaced Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for an upcoming Bollywood song. There were others who wanted to take it to extremes. Once such enterprise is the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association, which went on to ban Pakistani actors, singers and even technicians from working on Indian films. “No Pakistani will be hired by their producer members forever,” the organisation’s president, TP Aggarwal said. Another example of the disconnect between art and ideology.
Clearly none of them have any involvement with the cross-border tensions but they are being treated like unrewarded legislators further imposing abnormal dichotomies.
Sidharth Malhotra believes artists are easy targets. “Artist be it in any kind of creative field, be it movies, have no connection with what happens politically in different countries. I don’t personally think it’s going to make a difference to our situations, we are just soft targets.”
Or is it more than that? Perhaps a creeping intolerance that has the potential to turn into an ideology – an idea getting the better of politicians with their agenda? Songs, especially popular songs from well loved artists with major fan bases can and do move whole generations.
“A Change is Gonna Come” by the R&B singer-songwriter Sam Cooke came to represent the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
John Lennon’s 1973 chart-topping “Imagine” written during the Vietnam war was, he said “virtually the Communist manifesto, even though I’m not particularly a Communist.”
Artists; ideas; songs. Political institutions have reason to be afraid, but only for themselves. Is reaching for the gun however the answer?
We know art cannot be regulated or homogenized but history has also taught us- to defeat someone, you must take away their art. But lets imagine with Lennon, ‘all the people sharing all the world. You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one.’
Many people, who criticize Indian producers for hiring Pakistani artists, forget that the progression helps both parties equally. Be it gaining monetarily, enriching culturally or elevating artistically.
Karan Johar said banning these artists was not a solution to terrorism. “I don’t believe it is. The larger forces have to come together and sort the situation and this cannot be banning talent or art,” he said.
Fawad Khan stars in Ae Dil Hai Muskhil, produced by Karan Johar while Mahira Khan stars opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Raees. Dear Zindagi co-stars Ali Zafar and Shah Rukh Khan. All three movies are expected to be huge blockbusters, with excitement growing exponentially. Here is wishing all the artists a great season at the box-office.
Feel free to join everyone who disagrees in the comments below.
“Art cannot be defined, regulated, or homogenized. It is a testimony to the history that precedes it, the environment that molds it, and the events that inspire it. Art is, in other words, a tyrant’s worst enemy.”
