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Coming up to 70 years… Sing (and sign) for peace
Posted on August 13, 2017 by beenasarwar
What an incredible outpouring of love and respect for each other as Independence Day comes up for Pakistanis and Indians. What's remarkable about these efforts is the altruism of those involved, lack of commercial motivation, using their own resources.
One of the most moving expressions of these aspirations for peace between the two countries, is the Indian acapella group Voxchord's courageous gesture of singing Pakistan's national anthem uploaded to Youtube by Ram Subramaniam in Mumbai (Voice of Ram, @VORdotcom) on Aug 11 that quickly went viral on social media.
On August 12, Voice of Ram shared another spine-chillingly beautiful Peace Anthem, a video of the united national anthems of India and Pakistan sung by artists of both nations that is also being shared widely – see below.
There are many examples of Indians and Pakistanis coming together to create music for peace. Even amateur efforts like one in UAE on Saturday 12 August, where they came together for a joint Independence Day celebration. This report by Khaleej Times includes a video of a group of women waving the Pakistan flag and singing 'Saarey JahaN se Acha Hindustan Hamara' (Our India is better than all the world).
After the Pakistan national anthem presented by an Indian group, Voice Of Ram presents a united India Pakistan peace anthem by artists of both countries
A valiant effort by young Pakistani Seth Irfan is a catchy audio track titled Aman Ki Aasha (Call for Peace), with vocals by Seth and Aishah recently uploaded on Sound Cloud (they are still working on the video), shared with Aman ki Asha's Facebook page — "Pakistan Zindabad, Jai Jai Hindustan!"
Other beautiful efforts include young Pakistani DJ and former journalist Desiree Francis from Karachi getting together with Indian and Pakistani friends in Dubai to create this wonderful song dedicated to Aman ki Asha, for India and Pakistan's Independence Days, 2016.
A stunning rendition I never tire of listening to is #singwithSAMAA: Zaalima – Afreen – Sajde Kiye Hai Lakhon from April 2017
And remember this clever song, "Mere Saamne Wali Sarhad Pe Kehte Hain Dushman Rehta Hai" (We hear that in the window across lives an enemy…) by Aisi Taisi Democracy, August 2015
The Border Anthem of the year in 2014 was undoubtedly Sar Zameen & Jana Gana Mana (Official Video) by Zeshan B.
Let's not forget the iconic Pakistan India peace anthem of Aman ki Asha, penned by the legendary Gulzar and sung jointly by Rahat Fateh Ali and Shakar Mahadevan at the launch of Aman ki Asha in 2010.
This is by no means an exhaustive list – just some of the efforts I have come across. Coming up to 70 years, there is still no aman (peace) in the region but the asha (hope) continues to burn bright, breaking down barriers one tweet, one email, one facebook post, one chance meeting, one film, one song at a time.
p.s. Please also check out this peace resolution online – sign and share if you agree with the points. It will be presented to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan later this month.
(cross posted to the Aman ki Asha website)
Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: 1947 Partition, Independence Day, India, Joint Independence Days for Peace, music, Music for peace, Pakistan, Peace activism |
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hamarapaisa, on August 13, 2017 at 9:03 pm said:
These politicians would never like to live us in peace.People on both sides largely like and love each other except a few fundamentalists on both the sides.These politicians have their vested interest to keep us apart.Peace sooner the better.Two brothers agreed to live nearby separately as brothers and not foes.