For the past several days I have been in the spotlight for protesting against Pakistani artistes performing in India. Instead of supporting a patriot and a nationalist, a section of the media has accused me of ‘being jealous’ of the success of my Pakistani rivals.

It pains me to see a large section of influential people genuflecting before Pakistan, a country that considers India an enemy state. A few years ago when Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was the rage in India, he accused an Indian composer of lifting his tune for the hit song Tu cheez badi hai mast mast. The media gave wide coverage to his comments. But when renowned Indian composer Khayyam protested, saying it was an old folk tune and did not belong to Khan, the same media did not find it worth reporting. Indians made Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan famous but he in turn only abused our music industry.

I have nothing personal against Pakistani artistes and hold most of them in great respect — I have even touched Ghulam Ali’s feet. What I am trying to say is that when Pakistan has banned our artistes from performing in their country, why should we Indians give their artistes a red carpet welcome? Both countries do not play cricket matches against one other on their soils. Our television channels and films are banned in Pakistan. And every time one country sends back the other’s envoy, there is retaliation from the other side. Then why don’t we retaliate when Pakistan insults our performers and asks them to leave their country?

There have been innumerable instances of Pakistan humiliating our esteemed artistes. Jagjit Singh was asked to stop his ghazal recital mid-way and composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal, who had visited Pakistan to attend a marriage, were asked to return from the immigration itself. Even qawwali singer Akhtar Azad who had been invited by Pakistan to take part in a mushaira was later not allowed to perform because he was Indian. These are just a few cases that I am aware of. And what do we do in return? Welcome their artistes with open arms! Mehdi Hasan, Abida Parveen, Reshma, Adnan Sami, actresses Zeba Bakhtiyar, Somy Ali, Salma Agha… The list goes on. The achievements of our stars have never been highlighted on Pakistani television whereas our channels are busy promoting their talent.

In the US, Pakistanis taunt us saying the Indian music industry would have been bankrupt by now had it not been for Pakistani artistes. They keep on accusing us of lifting their tunes and never fail to rub in that their stars have kept our industry alive. On the other hand we in India love to insult our own stars. Look at what we did to Salman Khan. People die in accidents everyday — he did not deliberately murder anyone but the media did not spare any effort to humiliate him. But when it comes to artistes from an enemy state, we fall over each other to please them.

It’s true that the citizens of Pakistan love our films and our artistes. I would love to perform for them provided it’s a public show and not something done in hiding.

Here I would like to say that I am not challenging Pakistan’s policy vis-à-vis India. They are doing just the right thing. For Pakistan, India is an enemy state and they treat us the way enemies should be treated. It is the Indian Government’s policy that I am questioning. When Lata Mangeshkar has never been granted a visa to perform in Pakistan, why is the government considering granting citizenship to Pakistanis? Huge sums of money are paid to these artistes. It is alleged that the payments are made through hawala. Do the citizens of this country not have have the right to know the mode of payment? Especially since the government has come down with a heavy hand on Indian film producers with alleged mafia links. Are we not funding Pakistan? And how does it matter when a Pakistani artiste denies his roots saying he has settled in the West. He/she is originally a Pakistani and that is what matters.

When it comes to our artistes and channels, Pakistan calls them part of a ‘cultural raid’. But I would call what they are doing to our country a ‘cultural rape’. It’s a conspiracy. In the guise of artistes, they are destroying our industry and promoting their own. And we Indians are just helping them succeed in their designs. Switch on any channel and you will find a Pakistani artiste there. They are there all over, in TV shows, commercials, mingling and dancing with our film stars. We are bending over backwards to help them destroy us.

I want to create awareness among Indians, give them a wake-up call before it is too late. But if the citizens of this country do not support me, I will think that I wasted my time doing my bit for my country. The next time there our political leaders talk about desh-bhakti, I will take it with a pinch of salt.

What I find most painful in this entire episode is the attitude of a section of the media and our music industry. I am doing whatever I think is right at the cost of my livelihood, as a duty towards my country. These same people will cross over to my side if I am proved right tomorrow. Only a handful of Indian artistes have stood by me because they understand the seriousness of the issue.

India is increasingly facing Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. After the Kargil war, I had performed for a fund-raising event for the army men’s widows. Our boys died out there fighting for India’s honour and sovereignty. Today we are honouring the same enemy. I cannot even explain how I feel. Do we not owe anything to our martyrs? My head hangs in shame at our attitude.