Rightist political party Shiv Sena has once again threatened ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali and stated that he should not be allowed to perform in Lucknow, on December 3. Ghulam is scheduled to play at the Lucknow Mahatsov roughly a month from now and the Shiv Sena has once again threatened to make an even more worse example out of him, if he does.
Shiv Sena said that if the government wished to avoid any confrontation or untoward incident, then it should desist from allowing Ghulam Ali to perform in the festival. They went so far as to state that if Ghulam performed in Lucknow, he’d be met with a fate even more severe than Sudheendra Kulkarni.
“If Ghulam Ali somehow manages to reach here to perform at the Lucknow Mahotsav as scheduled on December 3, we will make things worse for him than what was done with Sudheendra Kulkarni in Mumbai,” said Shiv Sena leader Anil Singh.
Sudheendra Kulkarni is a top Indian diplomat and columnist. He was organizing an event of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri, when Shiv Sainiks threw black ink on his face. The Shiv Sena has always opposed Pakistani artists from coming over to India.
Lucknow District Magistrate Raj Shekhar confirmed that he had spoken to Ghulam Ali’s son and that it was confirmed that the 74 year-old would perform in the ten-day festival of Lucknow Mahatsov.
The Lucknow Mahatsov is a ten-day festival held in Lucknow to celebrate culture. Notable performers from singers, artists, comic artists and shayars are annually held between November 2 and December 5.
Ghulam Ali had earlier stated that he would never perform again in India until ‘things did not settle down.’
