“The Pot Calling the Kettle Black”

The following guest blog was written by Salman Ahmed is a response to recent appearance of Ali Azmat on a famous TV channel. He writes on a famous music website as:

“Dear Junoonis!

After reading your deluge of e-mails and tweets of disgust concerning Ali Azmat‘s recent appearance on a famous channel, I saw the program myself and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I’m stunned at the audacity of ignorance, the dishonesty and the complete hypocrisy uttered by Ali Azmat on the recent TV show.

Pakistan does not need the “Danda” or a “Khilafat” any more than it needs corrupt politicans, suicide bomb blasts and drones that kill innocent civilians.

I wonder why TV channel doesn’t choose to invite serious people who have contributed positively to Pakistan’s culture, education and society rather than trying to get cheap laughs out of confused and brainwashed celebrity addicts.

Cynical ideologues who find Ali Azmat to be an eager robot for their conspiracies must also be wondering what kind of Bald “Pappu yaar” they have unleashed on the Pakistani population.

For the record: I would like to make clear that Ali Azmat had zero creative input on over 90% of the Junoon songs (Including Jazba Junoon, Azadi, Allama Iqbal, Bulleh Shah’s and Shah Hussain’s songs and Pappu Yaar.)

Ali was completely resistant and hostile to the spiritual poetry of Bulleh Shah and Allama Iqbal and hated singing Sufi songs (and now he wants an Islamic Khilafat sponsored by the Army. May Allah help Pakistan!)

While in Junoon the only thing Ali was most vociferous about was having his money for nothing and his chicks for free, and yes he also enjoyed running naked in the middle of the night in 5-star hotels screaming Inquilaab! If this is a reaction to his earlier loose cannon extremism, he should make a remake of the movie ALL OF ME.

After watching Ali’s “dumb and dumber” drivel, I feel I should re-title my book from Rock & Roll Jihad to “How Junoon survived despite a Psychotic, Paranoid & Schizophrenic Bald man!””

Ali’s team responded to his blog,

“Good to hear about the comments from Mr. Salman Ahmed.
Jo Garajtay hain Woh Barastay Nahin
He might not have a rock and roll book but he truly has a voice and he loves his fans. So to all those who still love the voice that has filled our years for over a decade, follow the legend Ali Azmat directly on twitter on the following address.
Follow http://www.twitter.com/realaliazmat
And yeah wouldn’t take much effort for the so called “Bald Man” to respond to this non sense but we at team Ali Azmat believe in the following:
“Agar kisi ko maarna hai tou batoun se nahin kaam se maro”
God Bless”

Both of these musicians are mature enough and aged people. They at least must know what they are talking about and how they are putting allegations on each other. It is so easy to live outside your country and then talk about dear homeland. The songs he was talking about or was referring to, is an old riff by Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Page and U2. The band gave good music to its fans but after disbanding, shows some kind of clashes now. Salman seems a bit disappointed of why the TV channels didn’t invite him. The recent “Rock & Roll Jihad” passed through a big controversy too. Despite some “beautiful” international reviews, it got a mixed kind of response in Pakistan. Ali was never found commenting or making personal attacks on any member. Most of the bands disbanded in Pakistan, including Vital Signs and Awaz. A kind of cold war may continue among them but band members after disbanding, but one will rarely find a member spitting venom against another band member.  Ali sounded a bit confused and only presented his views in the show. Freedom of speech and what one thinks is a right for every citizen. No one can stop someone from exercising it. Ali also sounded a bit right regarding his opinion on democracy in Pakistan. Forget about his talk. He isn’t a political analyst or a cultural psychoanalyst. Whatever he said, seems true to some extent. Let us come to his music journey. Ali has proved to be an amazing solo artist as well. Take the example of his albums Klashinfolk and Social Circus. Ali has more talent and creativity. Social Circus was a massive departure from Junoon's typical style and won 23 awards in Pakistan, including Best Album and Best Producer. In India, Azmat was nominated for Best Soundtrack and Best Song at the Sahara Awards for his single "Garaj Baras" in the Pooja Bhatt film Paap. At least his contribution to Pakistani music sounds better than the one by Salman Ahmed. At least Ali’s talk isn’t critically acclaimed like the one by Salman, in which he is seen passing some ridiculous remarks about religion. As far as the topics of radicalization and extremism are concerned, Salman may have done a peaceful job. All trying to be said is how he can criticize his old friend, when he himself is not free from highly acclaimed critics. Also, some loyal fans of Junoon may get hurt over all this. Wasting their energies in meaningless fights would provide no outcome. It would be extremely great if these two great musicians only stick to making music and give their fans entertainment, instead of touching sensitive topics. Some of the audience may feel like laughing at Ali’s comments, but the same audience can get surely get annoyed over what Salman said about Islam. "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones."