Shafqat Amanat Ali’s concert cancelled, Atif Aslam's act in doubt

Threat from Bajrang Dal forced the organisers to cancel Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali’s concert in Bengaluru. The concert that was to take place on 30 September, was being organised by Radio Mirchi.

“We decided to cancel the concert of Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali. We took this decision in the aftermath of the Uri attacks,” Radio Mirchi group manager (sales) Srinivas told news agency PTI.

According to Srinivas, the decision to cancel the concert was taken on 20 September, before the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad demanded the ouster of Pakistani artistes in the country.

“Everyone knows what Pakistan is. Everyday it is killing many (Indian) soldiers. The world is on the verge of declaring Pakistan a terrorist state. Such being the case, what is the necessity to invite a Pakistani singer here,” Suryanarayan, Bajrang Dal Unit president told PTI.

The right wing party had lodged a police complaint demanding the cancellation of the concert following the terror attack in Uri, Kashmir.

Meanwhile, in Gurugram, Atif Aslam faces a similar fate, as his concert scheduled on 15 October is likely to be cancelled. This after the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Kranti Dal raised their voice against hosting Aslam in the city.

"Considering the sentiments of the armed forces and soldiers at the frontier, the organisers are advised by the district administration, Gurugram, to defer the Atif Aslam concert," said the deputy commissioner of Gurugram TL Satyaprakash

In neighboring Maharasthra, it is the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena which had issued an ultimatum to Pakistani artists to leave India and demanded Indian filmmakers to not have any Pakistani artist in their film. The MNS has targetted filmmaker Karan Johar demanding that he chop off all scenes of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in his film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.