Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali's upcoming performance in India is currently the talk of the town. Bollywood celebs such as Ashok Pandit and Abhijeet Bhattacharya have supported concert's cancelation, while many stars stood up to support the singer.
However, the Pakistani gazal singer was scheduled to perform in Mumbai and Pune on October 10 as part of the fourth death anniversary tribute to late singer Jagjit Singh.
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi took to twitter expressing "Have we severed diplomatic relations? Have we closed down our Embassies? Then what justification is there to ban Ghulam Ali?", whereas famous Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt said cultural ties should not be snapped on the basis of any political dialogue between countries.
Even fashion designer Wendell Rodricks tweeted that musical notes should stay beyond the reach of governments and tendered an apology on behalf of a majority of Indians, whereas music composer Vishal Dadlani noted "Ghulam Ali saab and his music are above and beyond politics. If he can't perform it will be our loss, not his. #Shame," in support of this his music partner Shekhar wrote music knows no boundaries.
Kailash Kher said in a recent interview to media that music, art and sports should be kept away from politics as an artist can be the biggest messenger of peace and harmony amongst mankind.
In addition to this, Kamaal R Khan, Dolly Bindra and Rakhi Sawant have voiced their opinion against the regional party Shiv Sena for cancelling Ali's concert in Mumbai.
On contrary to this, Abhijeet Bhattacharya tweeted his support for the cancellation and expressed his hatred towards the artists, tweeting "#GhulamGigCancelled kitni baar bhagaya bt these shameless hv no self respect no work except terrorism bt we feed them along wd prestitutes", and filmmaker Ashok Pandit backed the 90's famous singer's harsh tweet commenting that Abhijeet has his own style of writing.
Notably, after Shiv Sena canceling Ghulam Ali's concert on Jagjit Singh's fourth death anniversary, Delhi minister Kapil Mishra has invited the singer to perform in the national capital in December and interestingly he has accepted the invitation.
Now, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has invited Ghulam Ali to perform in Kolkata.
