I remember well that there was hardly any Independence Day or Republic Day when we did not hear Ustad Bismillah Khan’s Shehnai first thing in the morning. But for the past few years, the way discrimination is being spread against a particular religion and society is not taking us in the right direction. …without getting misled by vested interests, we should follow the Ganga-Zamani culture that has been going on for centuries., Which has been the tradition of our country. Because ‘Religion does not teach to have hatred among each other.’
The film ‘Veer Zara’, made by famous filmmaker Yash Chopra, depicted the love story of an Indian Air Force soldier and a Pakistani woman. In a song from this film, this Indian soldier tells his girlfriend about the virtues of India. But the topic we will raise today in this column is based on the specialty of the Ganga-Jamuni culture of our country. For years, our country has been living in unity, respecting all religions without any discrimination. But those who are greedy for power, no matter which party they belong to, have always been conspiring against this unity. Without realizing that electoral politics is temporary whereas mutual understanding has always been permanent.
Recently I saw a post on social media that inspired the topic of this article. Saw a jugalbandi of Ustad Bismillah Khan and Ustad Vilayat Khan, who are considered the pride of our country, on YouTube. In this Jugalbandi, the folk song being played by Ustad Vilayat Khan’s Sitar and Ustad Bismillah Khan’s Shehnai depicts Nand Gopal’s complaint to Mother Yashoda by the Gopis in Braj. The lyrics of the song are as follows, ‘Mohe Panghat pe Nandlal Chhed Gayo Re’.
Seeing this Jugalbandi, one does not feel at all that there is any discrimination in this folk song sung and played by Muslim artists. It is noteworthy that this folk song has been taken from the Bollywood super hit film ‘Mughal-e-Azam’. It is noteworthy that this song has been written by famous Bollywood lyricist Shakeel Badayuni and its music has been given by Naushad. This film is based on the love story of Mughal emperor Akbar’s son Prince Salim and a princess.
If you search this Jugalbandi on YouTube, you cannot ignore the melodious sound of the instruments played by both the artists as well as the facial expressions of the artists in this Jugalbandi. It is noteworthy that whether it is Mughal-e-Azam or any other film, whenever any actor is given any role, without any discrimination of his religion, he plays it very well.
Since films are considered the mirror of the society, they leave a mark in our society through their good and bad stories. Be it positive or negative. You will find many such examples where actors, regardless of their own religion, will be seen playing the character of another religion very well. While playing such characters, he gets so immersed in that character that you actually start recognizing him by the name of that character.
No matter what religion or caste the artist belongs to, he never discriminates in his character and the songs and music related to it. In fact, it has often been seen that an artist of one religion has played a character of another religion so well that if that character had been played by an artist of the same religion, it might not have been so better. All the people associated with Bollywood that I have come in contact with have clearly stated that they do not discriminate among themselves on the basis of religion or caste.
Here the question arises that if film actors are not so sensitive among themselves regarding any particular religion or caste, then on what basis is our society divided? Is awareness of this discrimination that has been going on in our society for centuries being promoted only with political intentions?
If nothing else, if you watch the video of this Jugalbandi, you will see how both the artistes, who are followers of many other religions, are singing the ballaleelas of Lord Shri Krishna with full devotion and honesty. Not only this, during Jugalbandi they give full respect to each other and also praise each other happily. Whereas in the last few years, it has been seen that if any youth, irrespective of his religion, supports people of other religions, then he is expelled from the sect citing social evils. Not only this, the announcement of not watching his films is also made in a very aggressive manner. In such a situation, he has to support his own religion unwillingly and out of compulsion.
I remember well that there was hardly any Independence Day or Republic Day when we did not hear Ustad Bismillah Khan’s Shehnai first thing in the morning. But for the past few years, the way discrimination is being spread against a particular religion and society is not taking us in the right direction. In such a situation, what will we explain to our future generations? This is an important issue. Therefore, without being misled by vested interests, we should follow the Ganga-Jamani culture that has been going on for centuries, which has been the tradition of our country. Because ‘religion does not teach to have hatred among each other.’