dna special: Zubin Mehta's stage set for disharmonics

A fleet of 50 BMWs has been kept on standby for the 150-strong contingent of musicians and their staff who will land in Srinagar on Thursday in a chartered plane from Munich. Roads from the airport to the Naseem Bagh guesthouse, where they will stay, are being sanitised.

All arrangements for Saturday’s concert by Zubin Mehta, the India-born world famous conductor of Western classical music, are proceeding smoothly. The concert, to be held in the Shalimar Gardens in the foothills of the scenic Zabarwan Hills, will be telecast live in 24 European countries.

Organisers say both the Bavarian State Orchestra and Mehta have waived their fees for the concert.

Out on the streets, though, the concert is the subject of a heated discussion. An elderly man travelling in a bus from Srinagar to Sopore in the north is puzzled. “How is this German chakkri (qawwali) different and how will it convey the message of hope and encouragement?” A young man sitting next to him corrects him: “Kaka, it is not a chakkri, but a German dambali (music and haphazard dance).” “But, why this hullabaloo?” the elderly asks, referring to the strike called by hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani.

“Everything starts and ends in Kashmir with politics,” says the young man, signalling an end to the discussion.

Organised by the German embassy, the home affairs ministry and a host of NGOs, the Ehsaas-e-Kashmir (Feeling for Kashmir) concert has drawn widespread opposition. Civil society groups, the local literati, ruling National Conference and opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party have criticised it. A civil society group plans a parallel counter-concert Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir (Truth of Kashmir).