AAP govt invites Pakistani ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali to perform in Delhi, says 'music has no boundaries'

New Delhi: The Arvind Kejriwal government on Thursday invited Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali to perform in the national capital after his concert in Mumbai was cancelled due to the Shiv Sena threatening to disrupt it. The AAP government justified the move saying “music has no boundaries”. Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra tweeted that the Pakistani singer is welcome to come to Delhi to perform.

Sad that #GhulamAli is not being allowed in Mumbai, I invite him to come to Delhi and do the concert. Music has no boundaries. #BanTheBan

— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) October 8, 2015

Ali’s concert in Mumbai was cancelled on Wednesday after Shiv Sena, which is part of the ruling alliance in the state, threatened to disrupt it. The party said that no artiste from Pakistan will be allowed to perform in the city till terror emanating from across the border is stopped. [caption id=“attachment_2460078” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Ghulam Ali. Getty Images[/caption] “We are completely against any form of cultural ties with Pakistan. The country is against us and kills our soldiers, so there’s no point why we should let their singer perform here. If the concert is not called off, we will protest in our own style,” said Akshay Badrapurkar, general secretary of Chitrapat Sena. Another Sena leader said though his party was in the government, it would not allow the concert in Mumbai. “We have always opposed the performance of Pakistani artists in India to protest its ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC),” said Mangesh Satamkar, senior Sena leader. Organisers of the event had announced the cancellation after a meeting with Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.  A source close to Thackeray told PTI that the Sena president asked the organisers to refrain from having any Pakistani artiste perform at such programmes. “Ghulam Ali’s programme has been cancelled. Neither Ghulam Ali nor any Pakistani artiste will be performing at the 9 October event,” organiser Randhir Roy had said. Justifying the cancellation, Roy had said, “Since the situation on the border is not conducive, it is not correct to call and promote any Pakistani singer”. The concert was a tribute to late singer Jagjit Singh on his fourth death anniversary. The decision was taken despite a Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis saying adequate protection would be provided to Ali and that the concert, organised in memory of late ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, would be held according to schedule. Reacting to the development, Ali had said the concert was not cancelled from his end. “Atmosphere is not conducive for me to perform,” he had said, adding, he wants Indo-Pakistan ties to improve. “I’m not angry, but I’m a bit hurt and sad. But there are can be sad moments in love as well. I don’t know why such situations and conflicts arise. We have performed in Mumbai on several occasion before and people have always showered their love on us. Whenever such news come out, it causes commotion in society,” the veteran told _NDTV._ He further said that whenever his fans call him with love, he goes and performs. “I would like to tell Indians to remain in ‘sur’, love each other and keep listening to us, be it live or recorded,” he added. Describing Jagjit Singh as his “good brother”, Ali said wherever they met and performed, “we were one”. “The programme was important for me as it marked Jagjit’s death anniversary. And that’s why I got tense and thought that the move was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened. Jagjit was like a brother to me and whenever I met him we looked like one, not from India or Pakistan,” Ali said. The concert in Mumbai was scheduled to be held at the iconic Shanmukhananda Hall, a favourite venue for Shiv Sena functions for several decades. (With agency inputs)