Srinagar, July 7 (ANI): In the end 'Ilhaam' transformed into 'Aghaaz' to exert past the 'Music is haraam' edict to stage a successful charity concert in front of hundreds of young Kashmiri men and women at the SKIIC auditorium on Tuesday. And what normally would have been a political non-event of sorts gave rare insights into the gradual radicalisation of institutions and individuals in Kashmir.
The concert, a brain child of management students from the Kashmir University, wanted to raise funds for an orphanage called CHINAR. The Kashmir University auditorium was fixed as the venue. The students approached a few popular local artists and convinced them to play for free for the charity event. The students arranged sponsors and ticket sales picked up in the light of the positive feel-good publicity around the event. So far so good!owever, as the event date came closer and the preparations picked up pace, the Kashmir University management backed out citing a 'Music is Haraam' campaign against the concert on the Facebook page Aalaw.
The page that describes itself 'as the biggest updater from valley updated every minute by members about current happenings in Kashmir which Biased Media is Masking' lists 'Liberation of Kashmir from the illegal and inhuman occupation of indian savages' as its mission. With a little over 24000 fans, the page projects itself as the focal point of the 'Kashmiri-social-networking-resistance', and increasingly a self-proclaimed conscience-keeper of an 'Islamic' Kashmir, if you will.
In fact supporters of the page went on to call MC Kash, an emerging Kashmiri rap artist an infidel. The university authorities, citing inexplicable pressure from the hate campaign backed out from the concert and the whole idea almost fell apart. It might be pertinent to note here that the university hosted a wildly successful Jagjit Concert in the same auditorium just a few weeks ago. The organisers came under immense pressure and the issue took the shape of a feud between radicals and moderates playing out on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
The supporters of either camp lashed against each other, countering each the other with music prohibiting Hadith and instances from Kashmir's rich Sufi heritage. Last minute, a few social activists stepped in and re-branded the concert, changed the venue to the Sheri-Kashmir International Centre and the organisers executed a successful concert to a packed auditorium that couldn't get enough of the artistes. The concert met its original purpose of raising funds for the orphanage as well.
While it's very tempting to sweep the whole controversy under the 'all-is-well-that-ends-well' carpet, one can't help but feel a little depressed about the conduct of the Kashmir University authorities in this issue. As it is, it's a shame that the university, supposed to be the font of academic and intellectual excellence, doesn't allow any research on human rights or any issue that it deems 'political.'
It has taken strange politically motivated positions on issues related to allowing student politics on its campus. Last academic session when two of its affiliated staff members were arbitrarily picked up by the police, one for setting a 'dissent-inducing ' and another for setting an 'obscene' question papers respectively, there was not even a whimper of protest from the University administration. However succumbing to the pressures of an anonymous online group is a new low, even for the university.
At another level, the 'Music is Haraam' campaign is itself indicative of the growth of a strain of fundamentalism within a section of Kashmiri youth, a growth that is the very anti-thesis of Kashmir's rich Sufi culture and heritage steeped in music and song. The irony isn't lost on anyone that the 'save Islam in Kashmir' campaign finds echoes in right wing campaigns waged by BJP affiliates like the ABVP and Ram Sene that seek to protect 'Hindu Sanskriti'.
It's a travesty that what should be a cake walk for students elsewhere - a charity fundraiser for orphans- has to turn into a litmus test about the ideology for young student who orgainse such events in Kashmir. It's an indicator perhaps of the trend that not only is the space for young people to express dissent shrinking, but there's limited tolerance for moderate expression as well. (ANI)
Attn: News Editors/News Desks: Raheel Khursheed is an independent journalist and columnist based in Srinagar. The views expressed in the above article are the author's.
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