Music has long been credited with bridging divides and a recent article published in Al Jazeera America explores just that by highlighting the transformation of the Mekaal Hasan Band over the course of time.
Music has long been credited with bridging divides and a recent article published in Al Jazeera America explores just that by highlighting the transformation of the Mekaal Hasan Band over the course of time. From being a solely Pakistani rock-fusion band with Javed Bashir on the vocals, it changed face to become a unique group of Pakistani and Indian artists connected by nothing but a true love for music.
“Today we have a Bengali Hindu, Sharmistha Chatterjee, singing Sufi/Qawwali lyrics. My rhythm section happens to be two Indian Catholic jazz musicians from Bombay, and the inestimable Muhammad Ahsan Papu remains on flute. Such a lineup forces people to see — hear — what unites rather than just divides us,” Hasan said in the interview.
The article, which covers the significance of music in war-torn regions including Afghanistan and Syria, builds on Fela Kuti’s notion of music being a weapon for condemning social injustices. However Mekaal disagrees on the basis that it’s not music’s primary function. “On the one hand, Fela understood what we now realize — musicians can’t wait, we have to take the lead. But Fela was working in a different situation. He didn’t have to deal with suicide bombers and the kind of difficult relationship that India and Pakistan have. We need to focus on collaboration more than competition, a message we take on the road from Bombay to Boston,” he added.
While Bollywood has seen a number of collaborations between Indian composers and Pakistani singers, MHB is one of the strongest driving forces connecting the two nations in the non-film music industry.
