Pakistani Rock Band Rocks Out in Indian Kashmir

A Pakistani rock played a concert in Indian Kashmir. The United Jihad Council had threatened Pakistan to stop the band from playing. Despite the threats up to 4000 students showed up to the rock concert. Voice of America

I wonder what these guys sound like.

A popular Pakistani rock band Sunday mesmerised a big audience in conflict-ridden Indian administered Kashmir, where concerts and Pakistani delegates are a rarity. Shahnawaz Khan reports for VOA.

The young in the audience danced and clapped to the tunes of Junoon, a top Pakistani Sufi rock band performing on the banks of Dal Lake in Indian administered Kashmir.

The band's performance in summer capital Srinagar was part of inauguration ceremony of the Institute of Kashmir Studies, of the University of Kashmir. The event was organized by South Asia Foundation, a non-government organization promoting regional cooperation in south Asia.

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Syed Salahudin, who heads United Jehad Council, the largest militant alliance fighting for the independence of Kashimr, had urged Pakistan to stop the band from holding its concert in Srinagar. He had told a local news agency the event sends the wrong signal that the struggle for Kashmir's independence is over.

Others, including Inam ul Rehman, a multimedia professional, agreed, saying this was a political, not a cultural event.

"I would have liked to go there to watch the musical show, because it was a dream to see Junoon performing in Kashmir," Inam said. "But because India made it a political show, so it was not feasible to go there. By portraying musical shows as returning of normalcy, India is trying to distort ground realities in Kashmir."

The five-member band, which has a huge fan base in South Asia, performed hit songs from its debut album and its lead singer, Salman Ahmed, sang Sufe songs in Urdu. He told the audience he wanted to get to Kashmir 10 years back, but was denied the permission.

The audience of some 4,000 people braving stringent security measures was made up largely of student invitees.

Many in the audience did not want their music mixed with politics. Gazala Ahmad, a student at the University of Kashmir, was one of them.