Two high-end hotels in the lap of Zabarwan hills were abuzz with activity on Friday as music maestro Zubin Mehta arrived here in a special flight with his team of hundred musicians to hold a concert “Ehsaas-e-Kashmir” at the famed Shalimar Bagh on Saturday evening. The hotels have been booked for diplomats, film stars, lawmakers and top-notch artistes, selectively invited to watch the unique performance.
A few kilometres from the two hotels, the scene is different. The otherwise bustling Mughal garden, build by Emperor Jehangir in the 17th century, is like a fortress surrounded by heavily armed security personnel. A three-tier security ring has been established with the back-up of CCTV cameras, to maintain round-the-clock vigil on the Garden and its surroundings. 1,500 handpicked invitees would watch the performance scheduled to be telecast live in India and Europe through special broadcast tie-ups.
The concert has come as setback for separatists who could not muster enough support from locals to force organisers to cancel Zubin Mehta’s programme. Organised by Embassy of Germany, the symphonic orchestra from Munich would present in full works of Beethoven, Haydn and Tchaikovsky.
German Ambassador to India Micheal Steiner, who is camping in Srinagar for past week, says that the concert aims to reach out to the people of Kashmir with hope and encouragement. The Boulevard and Foreshore roads, which lead to the concert venue and the twin hotels, have virtually been sealed for common people. Some locals rescheduled their marriage ceremonies after the heavy security hampered their preparations. A lawyer said that his brother's marriage was postponed after they failed to negotiate with the security authorities on seeking permission for movement.
The heavy security has been deployed in wake of threats issued by three lesser known militant outfits to thwart the show. Prominent separatist politicians Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have resented Zubin Mehta's concert saying that Kashmir is a disputed region, an international issue and a active conflict zone. United Jehad Council, a grouping of militant outfits operating in Kashmir, has also criticised holding orchestra in Kashmir with an aim to showcase Kashmir as a normal and peaceful region. The amalgam did not issue any threat though. Police said that two lashkar-e-Tayyeba operatives were held in Srinagar, who were possibly on a mission to create spanner in conduct of music show.
However, the German Embassy, backed by Incredible India, a promotion campaign of central Tourism Ministry, state tourism department and a host of banks, NGOs and corporate houses, has ignored opposition to the concert and put a brave face to hold it. The Ambassador ignored a letter sent to him by a group of civil society members questioning the context of holding the concert in Srinagar in the backdrop of alleged human rights atrocities by the State.
Geelani had asked people to hold peaceful protests against the concert after Friday prayers. Even as he was himself put under house arrest, Mirwaiz addressed a large gathering at Srinagar's central Mosque. Many preachers in their Friday sermons criticised the authorities for hosting music concert in Muslim majority Kashmir. "Music is prohibited in Islam. And Kashmir is abode of sufis and saints. Conducting music programmes in Kashmir is like rubbing our wounds with salt", said Ghulam Nabi, leader of a mosque in south Kashmir's lethpora pocket.
A group of civil society members and organisations have scheduled a parallel concert Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir or Reality of Kashmir to exhibit resistance to Zubin Mehta's show. "The event will include musical performances, poetry recitals, photography exhibits and other performance art, and is open to the public", Khurram Parvez, a spokesman of the parallel concert said. Till late in the evening, the organizers of the parallel concert did not receive approval from the district administration. "We got a call from DCs office but they have not so far issued permission. Our people are waiting there," Parvez told the Pioneer.