YOURSAY | ’What has Bollywood got to do with Palestine?’

Bollywood ‘Stars on Fire’ KL concert cancelled

Vijay47: Needless to say, I am itching to post a scathing, caustic comment on the cancellation of the concert but, try as I might, I just cannot find the smoking gun with the fingerprints of whodunit.

All the news reports merely state “due to unforeseen circumstances” and there is not a word about that in the Indian or Mumbai press.

Of course, Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan says his prayers and thoughts are with all of us. Thank you, mera dhost (my friend).

But what was he referring to? The floods in Kelantan? The Madani government we are saddled with?

Is PAS’ Kuala Krai MP Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman the villain? Nah. He is simply another unheard-of jaguh kampung and his typical extremist demand could have hardly led to the event being called off.

So we can write him off. Or can we? I will wait for the smoke to clear before I release the Kraken, already straining at the leash.

Vent: Strange, isn't it? Coldplay was allowed, but not this, rather tame by comparison to Western rock bands - the boisterous Bollywood ‘Stars on Fire’.

I’m not a fan of Bollywood stars, and although I’m glad the dark forces of extremism raging in this country now didn’t manage to cancel Coldplay’s performance, what is it about this ‘Night of Fire’ that is so objectionable apart from the usual rabid concerns of PAS?

Why didn’t Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim come out to support this show as he did Coldplay?

Ah, I forgot! It’s an Indian show! When did Anwar care about Indian sensitivities?

But the irony is that many of the participants at these Bollywood shows are the very Malays he’s trying to appease.

By the way, I wonder if the show would have been cancelled if the star attraction had been Datuk Shah Rukh Khan, that baby-faced darling of the Muslim masses from Mumbai to Dubai? Just asking.

Anonymous9483: I find it perplexing that so many Malaysiakini commenters blame PAS for this fiasco. Isn’t this government now helmed by Anwar and his allies?

Now that they hold power, do you mean to say they are utterly powerless to at least reassure the organisers and performers like what they did for Coldplay?

Or could it be that Anwar is just secretly pushing for the same agenda as PAS, with DAP just playing the submissive partner?

Apanama is back: The real administration that is running the government seems to be PAS-approved.

Now we are all having some kind of mind training, and please try to adapt to it. Do not grumble and complain. After the 16th general election, the actual PAS will run the show.

By that time, according to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution - and not the French Revolution - most of us should be able to adapt and accept similar kinds of cancellations and bans.

We are a joke of the world, as usual, as always!

Falcon: Very diplomatically worded! They won’t understand the depth and gravity of Hrithik Roshan’s statement worded in English!

This goes even to those who simply love to pretend to be scholars, PhD holders, and even Shakespearean-quoting empty vessels!

Now the Indian government and others globally know what Malaysian minorities have to live through daily, as well as the cultural genocide, bigotry, hypocrisy, and fanaticism that come along with it.

UB40: Why can’t other races enjoy concerts even though there is war in Palestine? There is time for enjoyment and time for grieving.

It is not disrespectful to other people to enjoy good music, though some people are sad about the situation in the Middle East.

However, it does not mean that concerts need to be cancelled as in this case.

Why must we give in to what PAS is saying and it is not the first time? Time to put a stop to this madness.

Darwin Fernandez: I blame it on Anwar and his government for dancing with the opposition for the cancellation of the concert.

A lost revenue to the country because of being fooled by some jokers who opposed it.

I bet you this, if Anwar and the government continue on this sort of momentum, he might have to step down before the 16th general election, or he will lose big time.

Wani Muthiah: Perhaps the concert will be held in Singapore and fans will all throng there. Imagine the loss of revenue for Malaysia.

Can’t they see that concerts bring in revenue for the country and local businesses? But I don’t think the concert was banned. I think the Indian artists just do not want to come here.

Tholu: Abdul Latiff, if Stars on Fire is “unsuitable and insensitive” amid the tragedies in Gaza, was the concert in your state with dancers in sexy attire a show of solidarity with the Palestinians?

Was it a show that brought peace of mind and tranquillity to the suffering and tormented Palestinians and their sympathisers alike in Malaysia?

IndigoKiwi9570: Some Perikatan Nasional leaders can go to London for a month-long holiday while enjoying the Christmas celebrations. That won’t be considered insensitive to the suffering of Palestinians.

But are the people watching Bollywood concerts being disrespectful? Seriously Madani? I’m so disappointed in you.

Focusapp: Goodness sake. The Israeli-Palestine war has been ongoing on and off for more than seven decades.

Will concerts be banned forever as long as the war rages on? What about boycotts on Jewish and American products then? What has Bollywood got to do with Palestine?

Thor: Malaysia is heading in the gostan (reverse) direction regarding tolerance and open-mindedness under the Madani government.

Expect even fewer international artists to perform in Malaysia in the future.

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