Objection to Zubin Mehta concert suggests Kashmir issue is still weak: Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the protest over Zubin Mehta's concert by separatist groups is wrong, and added that either their leadership is weak or the entire Kashmir issue is weak if it is affected by one musical concert.

"There is no controversy. Everyone has their own opinion. Music is in our culture, and to represent it in a way that it is against our Kashmiri culture is wrong. If they feel that by allowing this concert, the issue of Kashmir would weaken, then I feel that either their leadership is weak or the Kashmir issue is weak, because if one music concert could weaken it, then, in that case, there wouldn't have been an issue in Kashmir," he said.

"Politics should not be mixed with this. This is an initiative by the German Embassy to involve people here in this programme and, I feel it's a good thing. I am not opposed to any such shows if they are organized peacefully," he added.

Separatists, including hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and moderate 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.