Ghulam Ali concert cancelled: The politics of disruption

It is really unfortunate that Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai has been cancelled under political duress as the Shiv Sena objected and threatened to stop the show if the organisers failed to cancel it on their own.

This is not the first time the Sena has taken such a drastic step. Now it is music, earlier it was cricket. The Sena had objected and stopped India-Pakistan cricket matches being played at Wankhede stadium; the pitch was literally queered a day before a match was scheduled to be played. This time around, there is much more than what meets the eye in the demand to ban the concert of a Pakistani singer.

The Sena has been raising objections to any kind of ties between India and Pakistan — be it an exchange of artists and singers, concerts by Pakistani singers or a film by an artiste from across the border. The question being raised is how can we allow Pakistani music or art to flourish in India when Indian soldiers are being killed mercilessly in border skirmishes. The terrorist attacks and suicide bombings across India, engineered by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of the Pakistani army, have killed several innocent civilians.

Music, visual arts and literature are more powerful than guns, and art does not recognise artificial boundaries. They keep on spreading like wildfire and are always influenced by the contemporary scenario. This is one reason why despite all kinds of curbs and official bans, Indian films and music find space in Pakistan despite threats from Jihadi groups and even authorities.

It is ironic that while the Shiv Sena demanded immediate cancellation of the show, BJP Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis promised full security to the singer and the show while calling the Sena’s demand “improper”. Incidentally, the CM is holding charge of home affairs and it is his primary responsibility as a home minister to maintain law and order in the state. However, the organisers preferred to cancel the show instead of going ahead with it and face the wrath of the Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray. The concert was organised as a tribute to Indian ghazal singer Jagjit Singh. However, this has not helped the Shiv Sena to change its mind as it stuck to its guns saying that the party has been opposing all Pakistani artistes performing in Mumbai, after the 26/11 terror attack.

Though the Shiv Sena is part of the political alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling Maharashtra, both parties are at loggerheads over many issues. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is the oldest political alliance in the country based on Hindutva. The BJP, which was happy with an alliance with the Shiv Sena, repeated it in other states by aligning with other like-minded regional parties. This strategy has catapulted it to power in Delhi.

Despite such a long association, both parties practise Hindutva in different ways. In fact, the founding father of the Shiv Sena —Balasaheb Thackeray — used to take potshots at the BJP by advocating militant Hindutva ideas. As a result of competitive politics and the desire to gain from the polarization of voters over the years, the Sena advocates a more militant stand compared to the BJP, which has to cater to a larger pan-Indian audience, instead of being restricted within the narrow confines of a state.

The BJP is more concerned with the international impact of such moves since it has to maintain a high international profile as well as handle Pakistan carefully. The Shiv Sena has no such constraints and it is using its diatribes against Pakistan and its cultural ambassadors to garner further support from the rural parts of Maharashtra as well as from the cities where the BJP is seen as going soft on Pakistan.

The Sena mouth piece, Saamna, does not mince words while attacking the NDA government in Delhi or the BJP-led government in Mumbai of which the Sena is an integral part. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is continuing Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy of pulling up leaders from his own party and also criticizing his own government.

The Ghulam Ali concert has been cancelled at a time when there is a hue and cry in the country over the suppression of free expression and active encouragement to the polarization of public perception on religious grounds. Nayantara Sahgal has returned the Sahitya Akademi Award won in 1986 for her novel “Rich Like Us” to protest against the increasing attacks on the right to dissent, which she says are “unmaking India.” Despite her relations with Jawaharlal Nehru, she had spoken against the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, and asserted her role as an author. Several others including Ashok Vajpeyi are following suit. The process started in Karnataka when six Kannada authors returned their literary awards to protest against the killing of rationalist Dr MM Kalburgi.

Most of the time, authors, singers, artists, and film actors stay away from politics but they are also sensitive towards freedom of expression and socio-political happenings around them. Some try to stay away from all kinds of controversies but that in itself is also a statement which implies that they are preferring status quo. Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare were killed in broad daylight in Maharashtra due to a growing culture of intolerance. Such an atmosphere of intolerance has encouraged fringe groups and associations to rake up non-issues and create more fear among dissenters.

The Sena is not moved by such reasoning as it is more concerned with its immediate political concerns. The party is upset as it lost its prime position to the BJP which won more seats in the state legislative assembly elections held last year and is yet to regain its pride. Though it is part of the ruling alliance in Mumbai as well as in Delhi, it finds the going tough as the BJP is also trying to expand its base in Maharashtra. The Sena’s muscle-flexing has come before the civic elections to the municipal corporation of Kalyan-Dombivli, which is almost a part of the Mumbai city. The main rival for the Sena will be BJP which has a fairly strong influence in the area. The fight for KDMC has pitted the parties against each other, with the cancellation of Ghulam Ali concert becoming a sore point between the alliance partners. 

The Sena may gain a few more seats in KDMC but its move to ban the music concert and the continuation of its disruptive tactics will neither help it consolidate its position in Maharashtra nor help the country deal firmly with Pakistan.

The author is columnist, author, artist