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"Sur Ka Rishta" to bring Mumbai, Karachi closer

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: "Sur Ka Rishta", a programme to debate whether music, art and literature are bringing the peoples of India and Pakistan closer, will be aired on BBC's Hindi and Urdu radio services this Tuesday.

A live link-up between Mumbai and Karachi with panellists and audiences at both ends has been arranged. While Bollywood actress Kiron Kher, director Govind Nihalani and writer-cum-poet Javed Akhtar will express their views on the role of art in reducing prejudices and hostilities between the two neighbours in Mumbai, Pakistani writers Anwer Maqsood and Noorul Huda Shah and television playwright-cum-columnist Shoaib Hashmi will put across their views on the subject from Karachi.

The multi-media broadcast will be anchored by the head of BBC Hindi, Achala Sharma, in Mumbai and BBC Urdu Service's veteran reporter Zaffar Abbas in Karachi.

Since music acts as a common link between the people living on the sub-continent, a concert featuring Hindustani classical singer Shubha Mudgal and Sufi singer Abida Parveen will also be aired in the programme. "The two countries love each other's music, theatre and poetry. What is this power? Our programme will discuss the strength of this genuine admiration and appreciation and debate whether artistes bring people together and music connect souls of people living on either side of the border," says the senior editorial coordinator of BBC Asia Pacific region, Vineeta Dwivedi. Mazhar Zaidi, who will be producing the Urdu programme, says: "The programme will be a celebration of the two countries' common heritage and culture and we hope that the millions of people listening to the BBC radio in India and Pakistan will be uplifted and a little bit more hopeful." The joint event is part of "Who Runs Your World?" -- the biggest ever single-themed programme of BBC's international news division exploring different aspects of global power. The live broadcast will start at 8 p.m.

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