Coming up to 70 years… Singing for peace


Coming up to 70 years… Singing for peace
Voice Of Ram presents a united India Pakistan peace anthem by artists of both countries

What an incredible outpouring of love and respect for each other as Independence Day comes up for Pakistanis and Indians. One of the most moving expressions of these aspirations for peace between the two countries, is the Indian acapella group Voxchord’s courageous gesture of singing Pakistan’s national anthem uploaded to Youtube by Ram Subramaniam in Mumbai (Voice of Ram, @VORdotcom) on Aug 11 that quickly went viral on social media. On August 12, Voice of Ram shared another spine-chillingly beautiful Peace Anthem, a video of the united national anthems of India and Pakistan sung by artists of both nations that is also being shared widely. See both below.

INDIANS SING PAKISTAN NATIONAL ANTHEM

PEACE ANTHEM – UNITED NATIONAL ANTHEMS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN

There are many examples of Indians and Pakistanis coming together to create music for peace. Even amateur efforts like one in UAE on Saturday 12 August, where they came together for a joint Independence Day celebration. A report by Khaleej Times of the event includes a video of a group of women waving the Pakistan flag and singing ‘Saarey JahaN se Acha Hindustan Hamara’.

A valiant effort by young Seth Irfan is this catchy audio track titled Aman Ki Aasha (Call for Peace), with vocals by Seth and Aishah recently uploaded on Sound Cloud (they are still working on the video).

PAKISTAN ZINDABAD, JAI JAI HINDUSTAN

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/335486092″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

Other beautiful efforts include one last year when Pakistani DJ and former journalist Desiree Francis from Karachi got together with Indian and Pakistani friends in Dubai to create this wonderful song dedicated to Aman ki Asha, for India and Pakistan’s Independence Days, 2016.

DJ DEZ AMAN KI ASHA SONG

Another stunning initiative was #singwithSAMAA: Zaalima – Afreen – Sajde Kiye Hai Lakhon from April 2017

INDIANS AND PAKISTANIS #singwithSAMAA ONLINE

And remember this clever song, “Mere Saamne Wali Sarhad Pe Kehte Hain Dushman Rehta Hai” (We hear that in the window across lives an enemy…) by Aisi Taisi Democracy, August 2015 –

MERE SAAMNE WALI SARHAD PE

Let’s not forget the iconic Pakistan India peace anthem of Aman ki Asha, penned by the legendary Gulzar and sung jointly by Rahat Fateh Ali and Shakar Mahadevan at the launch of Aman ki Asha in 2010.

AMAN KI ASHA ANTHEM BY GULZAR, RAHAT FATEH ALI & SHAKAR MAHADEVAN

Coming up to 70 years, there is still no aman (peace) but the asha (hope) continues to burn bright, breaking down barriers one tweet, one email, one facebook post, one chance meeting, one film, one song at a time.

p.s. Please also check out this peace resolution online – sign and share if you agree with the points. It will be presented to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan later this month.




Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *