http://www.timesofindia.com/080701/08sprp4.htm
Salman Ahmed, Lead vocalist of band ‘Junoon’
Why can’t India, Pakistan shake hands like Germany, Japan?
For Junoon, India has always been a special country because it was in 1998 in Delhi that we won the Channel V award for the best international group. Sayonee (Soulmate) helped us reach the hearts and minds of many young Indians. It showed them a side of Pakistani culture that they normally would not have seen. Having performed in India (most recently in May for the Gujarat Earthquake Relief), I have also had a chance to appreciate its unique cultural diversity. The people have been extremely warm towards us and we’ve made many close friends.
Artists have a crucial role to play in the peace process. It would be wonderful to see great artists like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Sonu Nigam, Lucky Ali, A R Rahman and others in Pakistan.
Our teenagers would love to see Euphoria and Silk Route performing in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. In fact, we could all perform together as we did in Delhi when they joined us onstage to sing Sayonee with us. I have spoken to Palash (Euphoria), Mohit and Atul of Silk Route about a possible collaboration and they have been very enthusiastic.
I’d love to compose music for a Hindi film soundtrack. The movies that have impressed me are Shool, Lagaan and Mission Kashmir. If things improve, there can be a lot of cooperation between artists which would benefit art and culture of both countries.
See countries like Germany and Japan - they fought wars but are now extremely prosperous as a result of having made peace. Previous leaders on both sides have squandered numerous opportunities to make peace. I hope Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Musharraf can do what no other Indian and Pakistani leader has been able to do…bring peace to the subcontinent, Inshallah.