Noted artiste Manjari Chaturvedi's recital in Lucknow allegedly suspended due to a qawwali performance

Noted artiste Manjari Chaturvedi was allegedly asked to stop her performance midway at an event organised in Lucknow by the Uttar Pradesh government for presenting a qawwali on-stage that was composed in Urdu. According to the Sufi-Kathak performer, the music stopped during an on-going performance and an announcement was made for the next act. [caption id=“attachment_7920321” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Manjari Chaturvedi’s performance was allegedly suspended while she was performing a qawwali. Image via Twitter[/caption] According to a News18 report, the danseuse said that she was allotted 45 minutes for the event but she was asked to stop after two acts. An IndiaToday report quoted her as saying, “When I inquired, I was told that qawaali cannot happen. My performance was stopped because I was performing a qawaali. This is the first time that my performance was stopped.” The state government for its part has suggested that the performance was stopped as the programme was running late and had to be concluded before the arrival of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath. As per an official’s statement, the line-up featured several performances, and since a Braj recital was yet to take place, Chaturvedi’s act was stopped in order to give other artistes a chance to showcase their performances, reports News18. The event organisers have also stated that the performance was interrupted due to “organisational compulsions and not due to any religious or linguistic basis.” Chaturvedi is a renowned artiste who has been working on reviving the age-old movement vocabulary of the tawaifs through The Courtesan Project.