{"id":41398,"date":"2026-02-23T00:04:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=41398"},"modified":"2026-02-23T00:04:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:04:25","slug":"art-continues-to-bridge-india-pakistan-amid-border-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=41398","title":{"rendered":"Art continues to bridge India, Pakistan amid border tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Despite recurring political tensions between India and Pakistan, artistic collaborations across the border continue to emerge. The latest example is &#8220;Dar-e-Mustafa,&#8221; a devotional poem by Balochistan-based Pakistani poet Zaheer Zarf, recorded by Indian composer and singer Salim Merchant.<\/p>\n<p>Salim Merchant is a prominent name in the Indian film industry, known for lending his voice and music to several popular songs. His notable works include &#8220;Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai&#8221; and &#8220;Haule Haule&#8221; from the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, the title track of Chak De! India, &#8220;O Re Piya&#8221; from Aaja Nachle, and &#8220;Main Toh Aiven Aiven Lut Gaya&#8221; from Band Baaja Baaraat.<\/p>\n<p>Zaheer Zarf has previously collaborated with several well-known Bollywood singers. However, he describes working with Salim Merchant as &#8220;a dream come true.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the Express Tribune, Zarf said: &#8220;Salim Merchant has always been one of my favourite music directors. When I was first approached for this project, I could hardly believe that my poetry would be recorded in his voice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to Zarf, &#8220;Dar-e-Mustafa&#8221; is a spiritual piece, rendered in a deeply soulful style by Merchant. He believes the composition will evoke a unique emotional and spiritual experience for listeners.<\/p>\n<p>The poet also revealed that he is currently working on additional projects with other prominent Bollywood singers, which are expected to be released soon.<\/p>\n<p>Observers say such cultural collaborations not only strengthen artistic ties but also help foster goodwill between people on both sides of the border, even during periods of political strain.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite recurring political tensions between India and Pakistan, artistic collaborations across the border continue to emerge. The latest example is &#8220;Dar-e-Mustafa,&#8221; a devotional poem by Balochistan-based Pakistani poet Zaheer Zarf, recorded by Indian composer and singer Salim Merchant. Salim Merchant is a prominent name in the Indian film industry, known for lending his voice and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41398\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}