**Junoon for peace in Valley
**Celebrated Pakistani rock band Junoon was in Srinagar this weekend to perform live in the terrorism-hit state, to promote peace and harmony. Invited by the Indian chapter of South Asian Foundation, the band performed on Sunday afternoon at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre on the shores of the Dal Lake to reinvigorate regional cooperation and peace using the medium of culture.
Hello everyone,
The students of Kashmir have been very enthusiastic. While about 5000 students enjoyed the concert, twice the number wanted to get in and attend.
The terrorists such as the United Jihad Council and Syel Salahudeen etc were campaigning against holding the concert because a large attendance will conclusively disprove their concocted stories about Kashmiris wanting to separate etc. Gheelani wanted to shut down Srinagar! *Needless to say, these traitors had to eat their words and start scratching their face that has now been blackened when light was shone on their lifelong lies. *
As we say in India, truth always comes out. People like Janab Ali can try their trickery as much as they want but the Indian public has shown such people for the traitors and liars they are.
Regards
Pundit Vikram
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7419975.stm
**
Pakistan’s Junoon lights up Kashmir
**Journalist Zahid Rafiq witnessed a controversial concert in Indian-administered Kashmir at which star billing went to Pakistani band Junoon, which is well-known for publicly raising controversial issues such as HIV/Aids, the Kashmir dispute and corruption in Pakistan.
Kashmir has never seen a music event like it. Every guitar riff made bodies sway in passion.
The thumping of the bass speakers matched the beating of the fans’ hearts. Feet tapped, heads rocked, lips were in sync with the lyrics.
Junoon, one of the best Pakistani bands, was live on stage in Indian-administered Kashmir beside the shimmering waters of Srinagar’s Dal Lake.
People had waited anxiously for Junoon’s lead singer, Salman Ahmad, to appear in Sunday’s concert.
Even before he sang the first note of his famous song, “Yaaro yehi dosti hay”, the audience was on its feet.
Fans pressed closer to the stage.
“I gave the security a slip and entered into the VIP enclosure. I wouldn’t even mind the commandos hitting me,” one student, Beenish, told me.
“I wanted to catch a glimpse of Salman. I just love him and just imagine - he has come from Pakistan.”
Opposition
The concert had been organised by a non-government organisation, the South Asia Foundation.
It was also a part of celebrations held to mark the inauguration of the Kashmir Study Institute at Kashmir University.
Junoon, a Sufi pop band, is the first international group to perform in the conflict-torn Kashmir for the past two decades.
The event - for which entrance was by invitation card only - caused political controversy.
Leading Kashmiri militant, Syed Salahuddin, head of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen group, had urged the Pakistan government not to allow Junoon to travel to Srinagar.
He argued that the performance would have a negative impact on the “disputed status” of Kashmir and would send a wrong signal to the international community that “Kashmir was an integral part of India”.
The student union body of the Kashmir University had also protested against the concert. As a result, many students stayed away.
The South Asia Foundation had anticipated up to 10,000 people in the audience. But the numbers were well below that.
Security worries
But that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of those who did attend.
One young man who hadn’t received an invitation card managed to secure one for 500 rupees ($12).
“I bought the card from the money I had to pay for my tuitions but missing the concert was not an option. I had to make it here today,” he said, gesturing to me to keep quiet.
"I want to hear him sing “Bulla shah”.
In a separate enclosure, girls were up on their feet, their arms outstretched and hair flying. “It is amazing. This is the first concert I have attended and it is great,” one said.
The heavy security did spoil the day for some.
“I felt like dancing sometimes but the number of guns around constantly made me feel that I am not welcome here,” one student, Asif, said.
“The security guards pushing the people from the audience never let me go into the musical mode.”
The high-point of the concert was Junoon’s first chartbuster and their most famous song “Sayonee”.
Even the VIP area was rocking. No one could resist joining in.
Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was the first one to sing along from the VIP area.
He made Director General of police, Kuldeep Khoda, raise his hands too. And then, the other dignitaries joined in.
The audience made Salman sing “Sayonee” again and this time the entire audience joined in.
It was a concert that will stay long in the memory.
The terrorists such as the United Jihad Council and Syel Salahudeen etc were campaigning against holding the concert because a large attendance will conclusively disprove their concocted stories about Kashmiris wanting to separate etc.
Hello Vikram,
Well your logic seems out of desperation....How can this concert approve that " Kashmiris" don't want to seperate??"... Infact if they attended a Pakistani bands concert in numbers, it only show that the Kashmiris are more interested in whatever goes in and with Pakistan.
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
I agree with Saad, this peace concert had nothing to do with politics, it was just a peace concert organized by a NGO, and does not reflect any political opinion.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. The Hurriyat Conference’s strike did shot down Srinagar (including government offices)…maybe the news didn’t make it into the propaganda factory that is the Indian media.
Kashmir capital shuts down to protest Indian president’s visit
Strike cripples normal life in Kashmir
Bandh paralyzes life in Kashmir
Really? That’s why the concert organizers didn’t even get the 10,000 attendees they were expecting.
Hello Janab e Ali,
If this ‘president’ visits my town, I’d want to shutter it too. Good try to distract from the point about the Gheelani’s shut-down to prove a point failing miserably, just like your attempts.
Oh, about this 10000 thing, may be you can believe Dawn’s following statement:
An estimated 5,000 Kashmiri students witnessed the performance but, reports said, more than double that number were keen on attending the event.](http://www.dawn.com/2008/05/26/top4.htm)
Regards
Pundit Vikram
Hello Vikram,
Well your logic seems out of desperation....How can this concert approve that " Kashmiris" don't want to seperate??"... Infact if they attended a Pakistani bands concert in numbers, it only show that the Kashmiris are more interested in whatever goes in and with Pakistan.
Hello Saad_UAE,
Many Indians are very interested in what is going on in Pakistan because of the deep shared roots, shared ancestry and cultural commonality.
The points that were disproved by this concert was that many terrorist organizations operating in the POK and elsewhere that were clamoring for separation of Kashmir from India used to base their arguments on how the common people of Kashmir hate to be part of India and how nothing normal happens there etc.
Therefore a concert such as this was seen by these terrorists as well as separatists, as a slap in the face of sucg arguments. They tried their best to stop it, including threatening the band members with death threats (what else do you expect from terrorists whi kill their own children).
But in spite of that the concert was a hit, thousands enjoyed it and that is all there is to it.
Regards
Pundit Vikram
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
Good effort. Bravo to the organizers for offering something to rejoice over and take mind off things.
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
woooooooooooo
pretty kashmiri girls.
Junoon is my fav group. Nice move junoon.
Hello Saad_UAE,
Many Indians are very interested in what is going on in Pakistan because of the deep shared roots, shared ancestry and cultural commonality.
The points that were disproved by this concert was that many terrorist organizations operating in the POK and elsewhere that were clamoring for separation of Kashmir from India used to base their arguments on how the common people of Kashmir hate to be part of India and how nothing normal happens there etc.
Therefore a concert such as this was seen by these terrorists as well as separatists, as a slap in the face of sucg arguments. They tried their best to stop it, including threatening the band members with death threats (what else do you expect from terrorists whi kill their own children).
But in spite of that the concert was a hit, thousands enjoyed it and that is all there is to it.
Regards Pundit Vikram
Your post is full of hatered and from this post it seems that you are no less then , whom you label as terrorists...Full marks to Junoon for arranging a successfull concert in Kashmir.
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
from 1:07 to 1:40
Your post is full of hatered and from this post it seems that you are no less then , whom you label as terrorists...Full marks to Junoon for arranging a successfull concert in Kashmir.
Hello Saad_UAE
Ofcourse I hate people who lie and try to create false impressions such as what the separatists tried in Kashmir.
That is why I also am happy that Junoon held that concert with thousands of Kashmiri youth ethusiastically attending and enjoying, thus slapping the separatists and shutting them up once and for all.
Regards
Pundit Vikram
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
vikurm dude are you related to saleem1?
Hello Saad_UAE
Ofcourse I hate people who lie and try to create false impressions such as what the separatists tried in Kashmir.
That is why I also am happy that Junoon held that concert with thousands of Kashmiri youth ethusiastically attending and enjoying, thus slapping the separatists and shutting them up once and for all.
Regards Pundit Vikram
You can go ahead and hate anyone you like to and this concert did not slap anyone , except you, who is trying to politicize the situation by creating inferences that can only please you.
You people are so intellectually dishonest, its pathetic. Srinagar happens to become a ghost-town on the very day that Hurriyat declared a strike…and that somehow shows that the strike failed. The logic is so incredibly stupid I’m kinda surprised you were even able to convince yourself.
From BBC news:
The South Asia Foundation had anticipated up to 10,000 people in the audience. But numbers were well below that.
And while I’m on the topic of pathetic levels of intellectual dishonesty…let me just say how hilarious it is to see you argue that 1/2 of the expected attendees showing up at Pakistani concert somehow indicates that most of Kashmir wants to be a part of India. You’ll ignore all the surveys that show up to 90% of Kashmiris want independence…you’ll ignore the Srinagar protests that brought together over 25% of *the entire population of Kashmir *to demand azaadi.
But 5000 people at a Pakistani cultural event somehow constitutes the endorsement of Indian hegemony by the majority of Kashmir’s population. Truly pathetic.
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
its a idiotic thing if Junoon, even in naivete or their typically exagerrated sense of self importance, gave a stawman talking point to our indian neighbours about the semblance of normalcy in the area. clearly the run-up to the concernt, and the boycott of pro-liberation political forces seems to suggest they were aware of how the concert would be spun. Pathetic how low people can stoop.
however Vikram sahab, do you know how many "peace concerts" have been held between Israel and Palestine? Do you mean to say that after one of these peace concerts Palestinians felt that they should no longer claim their homeland?
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
Yeah, lets instead cheer every time their is trouble in the area.
Apart from this Jihad Organization UJC (who did nothing but issue threats), no one else seemed to have had a problem with holding a incident free (non political) peace concert in the area, including the Govt of Pakistan.
People had waited anxiously for Junoon's lead singer, Salman Ahmad, to appear in Sunday's concert.
HAHAHAH. Man that is just too funny. I bet they looked confused and sat down right after, and were like WTF when they saw salman singing. That ain't no junoon man. I can't believe people still get fooled by the brand name.
Re: Pak Band Junoon Live Concert in Kashmir
Hello Janab e Ali,
What a far cry it is between the total clamp down of people that you claim and this report of 1000s enjoying the concert in spite of the jihadi threats.
Look up yesterday's dawn.com which clearly says only 5000 could attend even though twice that wanted.
I know it is hard for people like you when your life long arguments are proven wrong by the people so summarily.
Regards
Pundit Vikram