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Pakistan rock group's
tribute to 9/11 victims
Pakistani rock group Junoon on Sept. 20 released `Junoon For Peace,' their DVD
tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. The DVD features `No More,'
their first English song.
"It (`No More') is a love song, it is about peace, about love," said songwriter
and guitarist Salman Ahmad at the IndoCenter for Art and Culture in New York,
along with lead singer All Azmat and bass player Brian O'Connell, while
answering questions from the audience after a preview of some of the songs from
their new DVD.
Ahmad is a New Yorker and so is O'Connell, who has been living in Pakistan for
the last decade.
The `Junoon for Peace' album is their tribute to the victims of the World Trade
Center (WTC) attacks, as well as a calI for ending the discrimination against
Arab Americans and South Asian Americans that took place after the attacks. It
was recorded live at the Alliance Francaise in New York on Oct. 27, 2001, and
features live versions of their songs such as `Saeen,' `Sayonee,' and `Dosti.'
Hailed as the "U2 of South Asia," and often compared to Led Zeppelin and
Santana, the group members said at the question-and-answer session that the
terrorists who destroyed the WTC did not speak for Islam or for the vast
majority of peace-loving Muslims of the world. A line in `No More' says: "I
can't take this no more,' which reflects many things, according to Ahmad.
Junoon's music is mostly in Urdu and blends Western hard rock, Sindhi and
Punjabi folk, and the Sufi devotional qawali. The band's message is emphatically
political, speaking out against corruption and religious extremism in Pakistan,
nuclear proliferation in South Asia, and the conflict between India and
Pakistan. On their current tour of the United States, the band is scheduled to
perform in New York and New Jersey in October.
One member of the audience wanted to know whether Junoon was breaking away from
the style which shaped the song `Sayonee?' Azmat said the band is heavily
influenced by Sufi themes. "One feature of that teaching is that one should not
be afraid of experimenting and change," he said.
In another development, at the Junoon presentation, Rajiv Chaudhri, founder and
chairman of the IndoCenter of Art and Culture, announced that the center's
facilities at 530 West 25th Street will permanently dose on Sept. 30, 2002. "The
art exhibition by Anil Revri, on view till Sept 28, will be the final
exhibition," he said.
No particular reasons were given for the closure, but Chaudhri said "my
professional and personal obligations make it impossible for me to dedicate the
time and energy required to take the IndoCenter to the next level."
Lakshman, Ganesh S.
News India-Times
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