Separatist leader of Jammu and Kashmir Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday said that the Zubin Mehta's concert has no relevance in the state at a time when people are facing the worst kind of state-sponsored terrorism.
"We have rejected this program and we have declared that there is no relevance for this music program, because Jammu and Kashmir is a conflict zone and a disputed territory, and majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are facing the worst kind of state terrorism. In this situation, there is no relevance for any music program," he said.
Apart from Geelani, moderate leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed displeasure over the holding of the event, saying Kashmir is not peaceful enough to hold such concerts.
Civil society groups in Kashmir have planned to organise an event of their own in protest against the holding of the Zubin Mehta concert here on September 7.
According to reports, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies, the group that is organising the protest concert, has titled the event as Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir (reality of Kashmir), saying that the 1,500 people who will come to watch Zubin Mehta's Ehsas-e-Kashmir (the feeling of Kashmir) concert, should get to know the militancy-hit region's reality before they get the feel of it.