Kashmiris forget war to rock with Pakistani band Junoon

May 26th, 2008 Aimon · No Comments

By Sheikh Mushtaq
Thousands of Kashmiris, more accustomed to the rattle of gunfire than guitar power chords, screamed, clapped and danced on Sunday to the first Pakistani band to play in the region for at least two decades.
Junoon played outdoors amid tight security on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar.

“Welcome, Kashmir, to the Sufi peace concert,” said Salman Ahmed, the band’s lead singer.

Junoon, which means obsession in Urdu, belts out rock tunes inspired by Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam widely practiced in Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority region.

“It’s mesmerising,” said 21-year-old student Shahid Khan, as music from guitars, drums and electric keyboards echoed through the green hills. “I can’t believe this is happening in Kashmir.”

Ties between India and Pakistan, which have fought wars over disputed Kashmir, are slowly becoming warmer. Sunday’s concert took place days after the two South Asian rivals said they had put their flagging peace process back on track.

Separatist Muslim guerillas once banned most forms of entertainment, but the militants’ influence in Kashmir has waned since India and Pakistan began talking about peace in 2004.

In a nearby field, a popular India-wide soccer tournament, the Santosh Trophy, also returned to the region on Sunday for the first time in three decades.

“The music in Kashmir had disappeared. But I think now God has answered our prayers and peace and normal life is returning,” shouted Shaida Parveen, a university student. “This was just impossible a few years ago.”

Policemen in motorboats patrolled the lake where musician Ravi Shankar is said to have taught the Beatles’ George Harrison how to play the sitar as they sat in a houseboat.

“It’s like reversing the Beatles’ journey,” Ahmed said.

Not everyone enjoyed the music.

“Pakistan should not let any of its cultural groups, such as Junoon, perform in the disputed territory of Kashmir,” Syed Salahuddin, chairman of the Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant alliance United Jihad Council, said in a statement.

He complained the performance gave legitimacy to Indian rule in Kashmir.

Officials say more than 43,000 people have been killed in nearly two decades of rebellion, which India says is backed by Pakistan. Pakistan denies the charges. Human rights groups put the toll at around 60,000 dead or missing.

The concert was organised by the South Asian Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that promotes peace in the region.