Former Pakistani musician Adnan Sami and former Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir have been exchanging a war of words today, a day after Sami’s Saturday night concert in Srinagar. There has been speculation over the success/failure of the government funded Rhythm in Paradise concert. The singer chanted some of his popular songs, plus some requested by the audience. The concert was organized by The Union Home Ministry and the Jammu and Kashmir government and the highlight of this musical event was that Sami performed without charging anything.
The musician, now officially an Indian citizen and often referred to as Adnan ‘Swami’ is seen as being quite close to Narender Modi.
Sami got involved in a battle of tweets with former CM Kashmir, Omer Abdullah after Abdullah tweeted a picture which showed the lack of attendees at the start of the event.
“That’s a real pity. I hope people have filled those seats now. For an evening they can let the music transport them to a more peaceful place.†This triggered a furious reaction from Sami where he began to defend himself and his concert. Sami wrote that Abdullah needs to grow up and shouldn’t be unnerved by the music concert.
The two then began a war of words where Sami called Abdullah a ‘sadistic sore loser.’ This entire scenario created havoc and people began to partake in the conversation between the two. Many defending Sami and appreciating him for performing so well and giving Kashmir something to look forward to. Sami suggested that the whole idea was to come together and not about being a star.
All day Sami has been posting pictures of his ‘successful concert’ to prove how wrong Abdullah was. Sami also said that he had a deep connection with the audience and shared tales from his life in between songs, trying to prove his deep connection with Jammu and Kashmir. He said that he learned Hindustani classical for maestro Pandir Shiv Kumar who also hails from Jammu.
Now, we weren’t there so cannot report on the event, but we will take newspaper reports for their word. Times of India reported “empty seats†at the concert. You can read the report for yourself…
