'Why give us a visa and then shut the door?'

Malini Nair,TNN | Dec 7, 2014, 06.45 AM IST
Six months ago, Izzat Majeed and his musi cians at Sachal Jazz Ensemble in Lahore started work on Jaidev's immortal ode to peace, Allah Tero Naam. The group that dared to turn Dave Brubeck's Take Five into a startling sitar-tabla-violin piece,reconstituted the Hum Dono classic with raga-jazz flavours. 

The anti-war hymn had become the ensemble's favourite opening number at concerts worldwide. It was also to start Sachal's programme at NCPA last Monday. 

But a hostile knot of visa and police rules scuppered the group's December 1 concert at Mumbai's NCPA. Majeed is back in Lahore before flying to his London home. He is saddened by the incident and the artistes, heartbroken. 

"There were about 1,000 music lovers waiting for us and we stood backstage, unable to play for them. It made no sense. Why give us a visa and then stop us... we all decided to return.The musicians were eager to play but they feared a repeat episode in Bengaluru," he says. 


For flute master Baqir Abbas, playing for Mumbai audiences had been a dream. It was going to be a tribute to great masters of the subcontinent such as Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Salamat-Nazakat Ali Khan, Pannalal Ghosh and Hariprasad Chaurasia. "Hum bahut mohabbat se aye the ki Mumbai ko apna ye anokha sangeet sunayenge (we came with a lot of love to play them our special music). This is after all the home of mausiqui (music). I felt like a kid going to a wondrous amusement park. And then to turn us away at the gates..."

read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Why-give-us-a-visa-and-then-shut-the-door/articleshow/45400310.cms