Dissident Trinamool Congress MP and a musician par excellence, Kabir Suman has now thrown his hat into the ring on the controversies surrounding the proposed Zubin Mehta concert in Srinagar. In an exclusive interview to the CNN-IBN, Suman says this is an attempt to take away the limelight from the Kashmir issue.
Q: Sir, what exactly is your objection?
Kabir Suman: First of all, I think, I suspect, that this is an attempt to obfuscate the Kashmir issue and the fact that over the last two decades, Kashmiris have been engaged. They have engaged themselves in movements for the right to self-determination, which the Indian government apparently is not prepared to acknowledge and which I decry... and now I am speaking not as an MP and what are my words...whatever I am saying have nothing to do with any political party as such. As a tax paying citizen and a political activist, of course and a musician and a songwriter and a citizen I am saying. Now that all of a sudden a Zubin Mehta concert and Germany is organising it. Fine! Hat's off to Germany. But, there is a...there was a great German composer Hans Werner Henze, who said that "Muzik kann auch Knechte schaffen", 'Music can also create slaves.' He was a communist, a composer...but a great modern composer... and I think that the German...His Excellency the German Ambassador should go through his book 'Music and Politics', 'Muzik und Politik,' that here we can see a clear example of how music is being used to create slaves. Slaves to a certain ideology, to a certain thought, to a certain concept that 'Fine! Feel good!' It's like the BJP, you know. 'Feel good Kashmiris! Feel good Indians! Everything is all right in Kashmir.' No! Everything is not all right in Kashmir. And therefore, I oppose it.
Q: The obfuscation that you are talking about and you yourself being a musician, you also communicate with your audience, your listeners, through your music. Don't you think that music does have the potential and in this particular case, Zubin Mehta's concert, can actually put some kind of a balm on these souls who have been troubled in Kashmir for so many years?
Kabir Suman: Kashmiris don't need a balm. They need a solution. The Kashmiris do not need any Zubin Mehta...my heart goes out to the great master. Nothing personal against Zubin Mehta. He's great. But, the Kashmiris...Indian government must understand, the Indian establishment must understand that the Kashmiris do not need a lemonade, they do not need cookies. They need a solution. They need a clear and simple acknowledgement, a plebiscite. They should have the right to decide on their own fate. This is simple!
Q: Several organisations, Human Rights organisations have opposed this. But also, several separatist groups in Kashmir have also echoed the same sentiment. Do you fear yourself getting identified with these separatist groups, when you also reiterate the objection against this concert?
Kabir Suman: Sougata, my dear friend, I have done a song...song for Zubin Mehta and Kashmir and now I have just heard that it has gone viral on the web.
Q: Can you sing a couple of lines for us?
Kabir Suman: I don't remember. I just wrote it, I did it in a hurry, last night, recorded it at home, I have all the equipment and then I uploaded it. So, I'm sorry I can't do that right now, because I'm not familiar with the song. The point is that, whether separatists are liking the idea of stopping the concert from taking place, I'm not interested. I'm not interested. I'm interested only in the fact that India should realise...the Republic of India should realise that this cannot go on. Kashmiris need a solution, a proper humane solution, democratic solution. That's all!
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