Zubin Mehta understands music, not Article 370
Being a music maestro, Zubin Mehta knows how jarring a discordant note can be. It not only destroys the melody that has wafted earlier but also leaves a long-lingering distaste in the minds of listeners. Unfortunately, the legendary composer, flush with the rousing response he received for his performance in Kashmir on Saturday, and in his over-zeal to sound ‘politically correct', has struck a controversial note: That Article 370 has been good for Kashmir and that but for this special provision, the valley's pristine beauty would have been ravaged by outsiders from the rest of the country.
Nobody doubts that he means well, but he is clearly uninformed about Article 370. The Article is not in force to ‘protect and preserve' Kashmir's natural beauty. It's a political instrument which enables the State of Jammu & Kashmir to have its own laws — even a penal code, its rules of settlement that exclude people from other parts of India. More importantly, Article 370 allows the State to have a final say in all matters except defence, foreign affairs, finance and communication. Instead of helping J&K integrate more seamlessly with the rest of the country, the provision has led to further alienation — and not just of the State with the rest of the country but also among regions of the State such as Jammu and ladakh. The rise of militancy in the valley is another fall-out of the ‘hands-off' policy that Article 370 has promoted. The ruin that Mr Mehta fears would have visited Kashmir had it not been for Article 370 is there for all to see. Kashmir has been virtually purged of its non-Muslim communities, especially the Pandits and the Sikhs, and various State regimes could do nothing.
Amazingly, while Mr Mehta reached out to the Kashmiris as he hoped to return and perform again, this time “for everybody”, he did not find it necessary to express any anguish over the forced displacement by the separatists of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits from their homes in the valley since 1989. He praised everyone from the Chief Minister down but did not denounce the militants and the separatists who have converted this ‘heaven on earth' into a battle-zone. Surely, he isn't unaware of the development, nor can he not have known that his concert had to be held in a fortress-like situation because the separatists and other anti-India elements that flourish in the valley had voiced their displeasure with the ‘peace’ event. Perhaps Mr Mehta sees only the lovely mountains and the imposing chinar trees and the famed Dal lake in the valley and takes heart from them that all is well. It can be argued that Mr Mehta had not come to Kashmir to make political statements, and so it’s unfair to blame him for not elaborating on the Pandits’ issue. But by wading into troubled waters over Article 370, he did get political. If the famed musician believes that he has won the hearts of the separatists and their backers in the so-called civil rights movement by his touching remarks, he is mistaken.