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Shafqat Amanat thinks borders are good for an atlas, not art

Shafqat Amanat thinks borders are good for an atlas, not art

Can Pakistan give up Tagore and India Ahmed Faraz because each lives on the other side of the border, Shafqat asks.
24 Oct, 2016

Numerous artists have said it before him, but singer Shafqat Amanat Ali thought this bears repeating: The ongoing tensions between Pakistan and India has been fostered by governments, not the people. There is no reason for art to get involved.

He expands his point of view in an open letter on Indian Express, in which the Pakistani singer asked a simple question:

"Can we in Pakistan give up Kabir, Ghalib, Momin, Daag, Firaq and Rabindranath Tagore, or Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Pt Omkarnath Thakur, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Gangubai Hangal and Ajoy Chakrabarty just because they live across a line drawn on an atlas? And can anyone in India say that he will give up on Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain, Waris Shah, Sultan Bahu or Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz and Intizar Hussain?"

"Lines on an atlas can only demarcate political boundaries. Music, art, culture, language, costumes, food habits and mutual love of a people stemming from the same civilisation can neither be demarcated nor divided," he had also written.

In the letter, Shafqat writes that a lot of efforts goes into fostering cross-border exchanges — efforts that have been undone by the hate-mongering taking place on social media and news channels. He says this has been detrimental to the spirit of the subcontinent.

"I believe art and artistes play the role of uplifting the collective consciousness of people, as they have always done over centuries and across the globe. We never think of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, R D Burman, S D Burman as Indian singers or artistes “from the other side”. We consider them our artistes and similarly, Pakistani artistes such as Farida Khanum, Abida Parveen, Noor Jehan and Mehdi Hassan have been loved by Indians as their own. This is evidence that art bridges gaps."

Warning of the consequences of stopping cross-border cultural exchanges, he ends his letter with a poetic plea: “Ek shajar aisa mohabbat ka lagaya jaye/ Jiska humsaye ke aangan mein bhi saya jaye (Plant a tree of love in your courtyard/ Which will lend its shade to your neighbour’s courtyard).”

Comments

Seedoo Oct 24, 2016 08:57pm
Very well said. I hope someone is out there to listen and reflect.
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R.RAJESH Oct 25, 2016 12:06am
@Seedoo We are Good at writing something to bring sanity...we never do anything constructively. If you ask me i will tell u to start first.... If i ask you you will me to start first... We are the broken pieces of the same mirror...we can try harder Result will be a disaster, the day you all moved out from us we are started moving from you all... Since 1947 till date we are talking bogus nothing going to happen
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Zak Oct 25, 2016 12:43am
Shafqat and what do you tell the bereived families of the martyred children by indian forces in IOK. Will you tell them about art and songs. Feel their pain then you will know what borders mean. They mean safety and freedom. See IOK.
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Akil Akhtar Oct 25, 2016 03:34am
compare our artists to the indians...we seem to have no national pride....
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Asher Oct 25, 2016 04:53am
Of course you think that. You make most of your money there so you wouldn't want the doors to be closed on you. Despite the fact on how they treat your country.
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Satt Oct 25, 2016 09:07am
Pakistan should also collaborate with artists of Israel.
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Ghosh Oct 25, 2016 11:28am
".... similarly, Pakistani artistes such as Farida Khanum, Abida Parveen, Noor Jehan and Mehdi Hassan have been loved by Indians as their own." I would like to add one more name - Ghulam Ali !
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MJ Khan Oct 25, 2016 11:53am
Unfortunately for you, Shafqat there is no such thing as World Passport. Well a Canadian passport might do the trick for you though.
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Dilip Thorat Oct 25, 2016 12:26pm
Never heard before of most of the names he has mentioned.
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Erum Oct 25, 2016 12:36pm
Businessmen would want a boundary less India for trade, an art person would want it for art, an educationist for education, a medical person for medicine etc. What a hypocrisy this is. Then they say that we are Pakistani and we hate India.
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Ritesh Oct 25, 2016 04:02pm
Well said & completely agreed!
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Adeel Oct 25, 2016 04:41pm
Because he is earning more money from across the border so he prefers money than national interest. I wish he also applied for nationality like Adnan Sami and stayed there.
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Abbas Oct 25, 2016 05:45pm
@Zak tell them that their loved ones died defending our country but at the same time, I'd tell them that there are also families on the other side of the border torn apart and do that want their children to tell the same story or a story of love, peace and cross border happiness!
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Nausheen M Oct 30, 2016 07:08pm
Says an "artist" who cannot sing the national anthem properly, good for nothing!
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