Hardline Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani's call for strike against Zubin Mehta's concert on September 7 has come under sharp criticism in Kashmir Valley with people terming it "strange" and "a shot in the arm" for the authorities to curb public movement.
The criticism mainly comes in the wake of a parallel concert 'Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir' (reality of Kashmir) on the same day when a concert featuring world renowned orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta will be held at the famous Shalimar Garden on the banks of Dal Lake here.
Mehta will perform in the concert 'Ehsaas-e-Kashmir' (Feel of Kashmir) being organised by the German Embassy in New Delhi.
A civil society group is planning to organise the parallel show 'Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir', which would be held at Municipal Park here on the same day.
Netizens questioned the need for the strike call, saying Mehta would perform before a select audience and the show will be "strictly forbidden for common people".
"Zubin Mehta would perform before an invited audience of 1,500 people. Over 700 of them would be imported from Mumbai and other cities of India. The rest would be bureaucrats, politicians, state officials, ministers, MLAs and media persons.
"The show is strictly forbidden for common people.What was the need for calling a shutdown and civil curfew on the day? People should have rather been asked to attend the parallel concert 'Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir' called by the civil society on the same day," a Facebook user Rashid Ahmad wrote.
Describing the parallel show as a "novel way" of protest, people on social media said the strike would provide "a shot in the arm" of authorities to curb the movement of people.
"When 'civil society' came out with a novel idea of protest against the Zubin Mehta Sept 7 show; it looks strange there is call for strike that day. They have simply provided a shot in the arm of autocratic regime, so that they could curb the movement of people. Weird politics! Alas!!" another Facebook user, Javaid Trali, wrote.
