After Mumbai, Ghulam Ali song launch event cancelled in Delhi too

NEW DELHI: Ghulam Ali had to return “disappointed” from a venue in India, yet again. A music launch event for the film Ghar Wapsi in the presence of the Pakistani singer, which was scheduled to happen in Delhi’s Royal Plaza hotel on Monday, was cancelled at the last minute, with organizers citing “security issues and threats from Hindu Sena” as the reason.
The event was a threat to our guests’ security: Hotel management
High drama unfolded on the streets outside the hotel on Janpath on Monday afternoon.Police had covered the main entrance of the hotel and kept a close watch on every person making an entry. Close to the scheduled time, the organizers and even cops were seen discussing security issues with the hotel management, who had by then decided to cancel the event. “We made a booking for the event here on March 3, like we do normally, but details, like who will be present at the event and that there might be security issues, were not shared with us. We started receiving threat calls on Monday morning warning us against this event. Keeping in mind the security of our guests and the safety of our hotel, we had to cancel the event,” one of the hotel staff members said. While news of the cancellation of the event was yet to be announced to the media, there were a few men chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Ghulam Ali murdabad’ who were detained by the police outside the hotel. According to the hotel staff, two men managed to enter the hotel and started chanting in the lobby – they were soon detained by the cops present. “These are the issues that we may face and it will send a wrong message to the guests staying with us, especially foreigners,” said the staff member.
Hotel was given minute-by-minute details of the event: organizer Suhaib Ilyasi
The movie’s director Suhaib Ilyasi, the organizer of the event, said that he’d received a call from Vishnu Gupta of Hindu Sena threatening to disrupt the event. “It is very disappointing that Ghulam Ali Khan saab’s programme has been cancelled by the hotel management. We were told not to hold the event here as people from Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Hindu Sena would disrupt and destroy hotel property. Ghulam Ali has always spread the message of peace – opposing him is really shameful. Keeping in mind the security issues and following the threat calls that I received, I had written to Delhi Police and the home ministry to provide security and they have taken every measure to ensure that nothing goes wrong at the event. Despite that, the hotel management decided not to let the programme happen – they say that Ghulam Ali will leave in a day and there might not be any issue regarding his security with so many cops around, but things might go wrong another day. The hotel was given minute-by-minute details of the event. Mujhe lagta hai ki in logon ke khilaf ek legal karyavahi karni chahiye kyunki ye log desh ka naam poori duniya mein badnaam kar rahe hain. Hindustan ek darpok desh hai is tarah ka ek ehsaas kara rahe hain ye log. Abhi toh India aur Pakistan ka match hua hai, where was Vishwa Hindu Parishad, kahan thay Vishnu Guptaji, koi nahi tha, kisi ne virodh nahi kiya, sabne taaliyan bajayi. Pakistani khiladi yahan maujood thay unka aap bahishkar nahi karte, unka aap match dekhte ho aur Ghulam Ali Khan ek simple shakhsiyat ke malik hain, bahut asaan hai unko kuch bhi keh dena,” he said. The event was first cancelled in Mumbai in January following Shiv Sena’s opposition, and after its cancellation in Delhi too, the director plans to reschedule the event, but the venue is yet to be decided.
The guest appearance by Amar Singh
Politician Amar Singh was one of the guests invited at the event, but after its cancellation, the hotel management decided to stop the entry of guests and even Singh was not allowed to enter the hotel. “If in free India someone is troubled because he is a Khan or someone in Pakistan is troubled because he is a Mishra or Chaubey, then what is the difference between India and Pakistan? We can’t stop any singer, be it Ghulam Ali or Lata Mangeshkar, from singing,” he said.