‘Only the seven musical notes unite the world’

Sarod exponent Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is still shocked with the news of qawwali singer Amjad Sabri’s killing in Pakistan. He is troubled by the attack on humanism and artistes, in particular by religious fundamentalists. Khan is urging citizens to practice religious tolerance for the sake of world peace. He says, “If we can’t help each other, then at least let’s not destroy each other. Let’s take the future of every child into consideration. Art, music and musicians don’t belong to any cult or religion. In our country every classical musician is worshipped like goddess Saraswati.” Khan is yet to come to terms with Amjad’s death. He says, “It is a great loss. The killers have committed a grave sin. Amjad Sabri ko maarne waalon se yeh gunaah-e-azeem ho gaya.”

At a time when religion continues to create barriers, the sarod maestro sees music and the arts as the great unifier in India and Pakistan. He says, “India was one before the Partition. That is why even today it’s still Indian classical music that unifies the two countries and their people. We could only divide the land but could not divide the music. Unfortunately, the political system of countries everywhere is based on religion. But in our country it is complex and complicated.” He recalls a conversation with his guru on politics. He says, “My guru once gave his opinion on politics and said every election is a big gamble. Political parties are not interested in our unity and togetherness. People of the world have to think about the value of togetherness, peace and harmony.”

Khan wonders about the growth of radicalism in India. He adds that the law needs to become stringent for people to rethink their actions. He says, “I wonder how a PhD becomes radical or communal. There is a strong message there for our education system. I wish people were afraid of the law and abided by the rules, regulations and discipline, the way it is in Dubai or Singapore. It’s high time the judiciary found some other ways of gathering evidence and not depend only on eyewitnesses. So many cases of the judiciary are still waiting for a verdict. Add to that, so many verdicts are still not accepted by the people, especially in India.”

Khan is also worried about the rampancy of terror attacks. He says, “The US should not encourage people to openly buy weapons. The greatest mockery is that every political leader talks of peace and harmony but at the same time every country is busy producing weapons, guns and missiles. The future of the world looks aimless and bleak. The world is heading towards destruction.”

He believes there is a need for a world body to look into the mass killings. He says, “We need to have some powerful world body or organisation to intervene in the mass killings. Earlier we thought the UN will take care of all the world problems. But unfortunately, even the UN is in trouble today. I hope the world soon understands the value of love, peace and harmony.”

Ustaad Khan’s own family is a picture of secularism. A believer in the oneness of God, Khan is happily married to a Hindu woman. He says proudly, “In our family, my wife Subhalakshmiji, my sons Amaan and Ayaan, my daughter-in-law Neema and my grandchildren Abeer and Zohaan — we all feel connected with every human being, every religion and every soul. We strongly believe in a common God — only the seven musical notes unite the world.” He continues, “Every priest in the world is a monthly paid employee of various religious organisations. Perhaps this explains why we’ve never heard any priest conveying the one truth of life — that the entire universe has one common God. We belong to a common race.”