Asad Ahmed on segregation

Asad Ahmed should need no introduction. Having played with Vital Signs, his nineties group Awaz (before it disbanded), Karavan (before it disbanded), as well as the early years of Coke Studio and as a member of Pepsi Battle of the Bands’ audio team last year, he is a veteran of the music scene. These are just some of his accomplishments.Having struck out on his own with a solo album called Rebirth in 2017, Asad confirmed to Instep that a second album is indeed in the pipeline. He also admitted that Rebirth found a market internationally much more than at home. Speaking to Instep, Asad spoke about a number of issues including lack of venues and the burning question of segregation. “You don’t have venues. We had Cafe Blue once upon a time. T2F is one but you need many more. There has to be some pay off somewhere, and I still believe that isn’t happening.”“This is why artists get disheartened and break up,” noted Asad. Asad took the stage with Shahi Hasan in the revived Pepsi Battle of the Bands season and performed the song, ‘Namumkin’, which was dedicated to Junaid Jamshed and did a fantastic job while onstage. But then, Asad is a pro and his addition to the Pepsi Battle of the Bands last year thus made sense. Speaking about segregation, noted Asad, “You see we live in the third world. And education, basic ethics and morals have always been an issue in a place like Pakistan. Now if you put a whole bunch of females in front of a whole bunch of guys, whether the ticket is for Rs 3000 or 5000 - because you think you can filter out the unruly crowd – they will come.”Asad added: “Going back to the nineties, nothing has changed. The only thing that has changed is that today you have variety shows where Junoon and five other bands would be playing – as opposed to the past where you had one Junoon and nobody else.”“They give you more value for your money but that’s not the answer,” said Asad. “As far as segregation goes, it is pathetic that in 2019 we have to segregate women and men and families. It’s ridiculous.”When asked what the solution is to this growing problem of big shows where women end up getting molested or worse, Asad noted, “I think you need to educate the public by allowing them to be one big unit – girls, guys, everyone – and you’ll have issues initially but they will sort themselves out. Education plays a big part but until you don’t give the public something consistently, they won’t get used to it. People have to get used to the idea that girls wearing skimpy clothes are enjoying themselves. Big deal!”Asad recounted a story about being at a concert in Toronto that had an audience of 40,000 people in a stadium. There were girls there. Nobody bothered to look at them. Every one was enjoying themselves,” said Asad. “It’s a real shame,” said Asad about what happens at concerts here and how they are sometimes stopped for the safety of a child or a woman. Asad got one thing right. It is a damn shame. 

from The News International - Instep Today http://bit.ly/30alhv8