Popular Bangladeshi band Miles has protested against Indian band Fossils’ ongoing campaign to boycott it from an upcoming concert in India.
Miles band members Shafin Ahmed and Manam Ahmed posted a video message on Facebook on Wednesday midnight to clear their position.
The two bands were scheduled to perform at a concert in Kolkata on August 13. Fossils, however, accused Miles of making anti-India comments and called for it to be barred from the concert. To avoid controversy, the organisers have excluded both the bands from the concert.
Fossils alleged that Miles members Shafin and Hamin have made derogatory comments about India on their Facebook page. Fossils fans even posted a page titled “Boycott Miles” on the site.
This prompted Miles to upload the Facebook post to clarify its stand. In the post, Shafin said, “It has come to our attention that Kolkata’s band Fossils is raising propaganda against us. The music world is not a place for conspiracies.”
The controversy goes back to the last T-20 Cricket World Cup held in India. During the tournament, Shafin and Hamin had expressed their opinions about the exclusion of two Bangladeshi cricketers, which was construed as anti-India by Fossils.
Rupam from Fossils told Kolkata’s Ebela newspaper: “We were all fans of Miles. However, after hearing such comments, it is difficult for us to respect them. They always have the intention to insult India. How can these people even think of coming to India to perform?”
In response, Shafin told The Independent: “Influenced by all the misunderstanding created by Fossils, some people are saying these things against us. We are just ignoring it. People do such things out of jealousy.”
“During a cricket tournament, every person has the right to speak in favour of their country. That is what we did. As for the decisions against our cricketers then, we did not create any controversy about Indian artistes coming to Bangladesh to perform,” he added.
In the same video post, Manan said, “We want the cultural exchanges between the two countries to increase. But what Rupam is doing is just dirty politics and this simply does not suit him.”