May 21, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429

SRINAGAR, May 20: Pakistan’s top rock band would take part in a concert this weekend in occupied Kashmir, the biggest musical event in the disputed valley for decades, organisers said on Tuesday.

Rock band Junoon, one of South Asia’s most popular acts, will play on Sunday on the banks of Dal Lake — where Ravi Shankar taught Beatle George Harrison to play the sitar in the 1960s.

Kashmir has seen few large cultural events since 1989, when a large-scale Muslim insurgency erupted. A 2004 ceasefire between India and Pakistan, however, has brought about a sharp decline in violence.

“We have organised the concert to push peace in the region,” said Prasad Rao, whose non-governmental South Asia Foundation (Saf) is organising the event.

The concert will take place in an auditorium on the banks of the picturesque Dal Lake, situated on the edge of Srinagar.

Rao said senior state and central government ministers — possibly including Indian President Pratibha Patil — would be among the audience.

“We have also extended our invitation to President Patil. Her participation has to be cleared by her security,” Rao said.—AFP