Salman Ahmed Brings Sufi-Rock, Political Message to Harvard

December 12, 2005

Source: The Citizen

http://www.ksgcitizen.org/media/paper223/news/2005/12/12/Features/SufiRock.And.Its.Political.Message.Come.To.Ksg.And.Harvard-1128349.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.ksgcitizen.org

On December 12, 2005 The Citizen reported, "The pews of Memorial Church at Harvard experienced music quite different from the usual choir music [on] the night of November 29th, 2005. It was Salman Ahmed, the lead guitarist of South Asia's biggest rock band Junoon, playing to a full-house of his fans and curious music lovers. Ahmed, a UN Goodwill Ambassador from Pakistan, conveyed a message of introspection, peace and multi-culturalism through his genre of Sufi-rock music.

Kathryn Lohre, Research Manager, Pluralism Project at Harvard said, 'I thought that the sound resonated beautifully in the chapel... it was an unusual, and thus interesting setting for a rock concert. It helped me to consider God's role in what we were doing.' The concert was free to the public and raised $ 7,100 for the Edhi Foundation's South Asian Earthquake Relief Funds... Ahmed lost an aunt and a cousin in the recent South Asian Earthquake and spoke about his recent visit to the Kashmir region in Pakistan.

'[The] earthquake was a wakeup call for us. This piece of land has been treated like a rag doll between the two countries. We [India and Pakistan] have spent so much on weapons, if only 10% was spent on roads and development...' he mused regretfully."