The
Musings 25
Wednesday,
February 5
Read: Mark 7: 31-37
Music is one medium
that transcends the lines of division and unites people irrespective of their
religion, culture, language or creed. It is through music that people find
solace and comfort in life. Music is also a medium of one's creative
expression. Victor Hugo, the famous poet, visual artist, literary and political
celebrity once said, "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words
and that which cannot remain silent". However, it is these very notes of music
that is being stifled in the state of Kashmir, India. Notes of Music being
stifled in the name of religious belief. A rock band named Pragaash which means
from darkness to light was formed in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This was
the first band that was ever formed in the state and it was three-member band.
When there was a battle of bands talent quest last December, it was Pragaash
that won the contest. Now the band has decided to not to perform and also disband
the group. The reason for the sudden disbanding has been a statement by a
senior cleric who called the members of the band and what they were doing as going against the tenets of their religion.
What the senior cleric did was issuing a religious ruling also called as Fatwa
to the band, ordering that they should break up and that performing rock music
was against their religion. Performing
rock music also meant that they were adopting western cultures and practices and
these should be shunned. When Pragaash
was formed they were also target of a hate campaign online and now with the
religious ruling being issued by the religious leaders, the band had no other
option but to disband themselves. The religious ruling of the clerics has
caused a huge controversy, and topic of discussion on how clerics and the
hardliners are dictating on the way people should live and should make choices
with regards not only in respect to religion but also in the creative expressions
of one's life. I am not fan of rock music but I believe each person his/her own
taste of music. Moreover music has been an essential element in every religion.
One of the music traditions especially in Kashmir is Sufi heritage and the Sufi
singers are very popular all over the world. One can hear Sufi songs now in
almost all Bollywood films, music, and people who love music enjoy these Sufi
songs. Some of the best Sufi hits are the songs " Maula Mere Maula"
from the movie Anwar and "Kwaja Mere Khwaja" from the movie Jodha
Akbar. But even Sufi singers are
considered as anti religious but the Sufi singers don't care about what the
religious clerics say and they just sing and the people just listen and enjoy
the songs, the message that they want to
communicate through these Sufi songs. But in the case of Pragaash, the group consists
of a young people, especially girls, and they had no other option but to obey
the religious ruling otherwise their very life and existence would be at stake.
The government of Kashmir has denounced the religious ruling of the cleric and have affirmed that women have every right
for education, and performances related to culture, literature and other
performing arts. Early in 1990's the cleric's had opposed the education of
women, but the whole society isolated the clerics and they openly flouted the
religious ruling by encouraging women to study. In the case of Pragaash, and realm of music lies the concept of creative
expressions of a young people, people who
want to explore and develop their God given talents. But the tragedy of the whole issue is that their very
creative expression is being stifled in the name of God, in the name of
religion. A person's individuality, identity is all related to freedom that
he/she gets to creatively express himself/herself and when that creativity is stifled
then his/her very existence is also stifled. Whenever we stifle another
person's creative expression, I would say that we are actually denying his
right to live. I live because I am able to express creatively.
Helping people to
rediscover their identity through their creativity was one of the objective in
the ministry of Jesus Christ. In Mark 7: 31-37, we find a crowd bringing deaf
and dumb person to Jesus Christ. This incident happened in the region of
Decapolis. It was in this same region that Jesus brings a socially ostracized
person named Legion back to the main frame of the society [Mark 5]. In this context, we find people bringing a
deaf and dumb man and requesting Jesus Christ to place his hand on him and heal
him. What does this deaf and dumb man represent? A person who is not able to
communicate his ideas nor one who can he listen to others, nor listen to the
wonderful notes of harmony in the world, neither involve in the process of
learning, because learning not only involves reading but also reflecting and
listening to others. It is this lack of faculties that make this person's life
monotonous and least creative. I believe it is this deficiency that Jesus
understands and heals him. Jesus puts
his fingers in the ears of the man. spits and uses the saliva to touch the man's tongue and looking at heaven Jesus
utters "Ephphatha" which means be opened. Here is Jesus freeing the
man to express himself both in terms of expressing and listening. Creativity
expressed through ones expression of speech and the gift of listening. Words are
always creative and when we look at Genesis we find that it is God's creative
word that created this world. Words have the power to create and to destroy.
But it is the creative power of the words, the creative power to express
oneself that Jesus bring back to the deaf and dumb man. With Jesus healing him,
the dumb man can now speak. He can now boldly speak, bring his thoughts that
were bottled in his mind, through words and can now communicate freely his
ideas and his thought to his world. It is in communicating ones views and
ideas, communicating my creativity that I find my individuality and identity.
When I am able to listen to others, listen to those wonderful sounds in this
universe, my life is blessed. It is this gift of creative expressions of ones
individuality that Jesus wants to brings in each one of our lives. When the
religious cleric in Kashmir issued a ruling to disband the music band, I
believe they were actually stifling the creative expression of God, in the
lives of people. Let us therefore always affirm and encourage others so the
each person is able to affirm their individuality and their identity through
the creative expressions and talents that God has given to each one of us. Let us also oppose those forces and rules that
stifle the a person's creative expression of speech and also be a channel
whereby we make sound that are pleasing to others ears.
