Kashmiri artist raps Mehta, Germany envoy with his song

Srinagar, September 07, 2013 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, a two-minute rap song opposing the Zubin Mehta’s concert in Kashmir has become an instant hit among the Internet users.

Charged with eloquent Kashmiri poetry and politically powerful lyrics, the song titled ‘We ain’t free’ has been composed by a Kashmiri rapper, Mir Ghazanfar, who mostly goes by his alias ‘EssXaar’. Composed on rhythmic loops, the song begins by talking about the ancient history and traditions of music in Kashmir and subsequently goes on blasting the Zubin Mehta concert at Shalimar Garden as a manifestation of Indian occupation.

“Listen to the tune and this musical story. It be the truth, not a false Indian theory. We are ancient people, with ancient love and pain…So don’t think you can give us lessons coming this far,” starts the song that goes on to dub the concert as an attempt to portray the illusion of peace in Kashmir.

The song compares the German envoy, Michael Steiner, with Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda for Hitler in the Nazi Germany, saying, “Twitter, tulip, disco, whisky; Beethoven, Hayden, Tchaikovsky. Did you get all this from the German embassy? Here people can sit with Hitlers and Goebbels while their armies go on creating new hells.”

“There are people who force others into a union. Then peel their love and history like an onion. We be a people whose souls are always with those, whom the world makes illegal to have real souls. We be the people whose music is always free; and the song of freedom, we say azadi.” The song is interjected by brief recitals of moving Kashmiri poetry that talks about pain, suffering and plight of the Kashmiri people.

“The song is about what is really going on in Kashmir. The concert is being brought together with an aim to project the facade of peace and normalcy in Kashmir,” Ghazanfar said in a media interview in Srinagar.

Rap music in Kashmir drew attention during the 2010 mass uprising. “I protest”, by MC Kash aka Roushan Illahi became an anthem of these protests. Since then, the number of protest rappers in the Valley has been multiplying.

Today, there are at least a dozen fledgling Kashmiri protest rap artists who mostly express dissent over issues ranging from the Zubin Mehta concert to human rights violations by rapping. The Zubin Mehta concert has evoked widespread criticism from political and social circles within and outside Kashmir.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Phone: 92-51-4435548, 4435549
Fax: 92-51-4861736