600 Indian guitarists play tribute to gang-rape victim
INDIA: A group of 600 guitarists have paid a musical tribute to an
Indian gang-rape victim, playing "Imagine" by John Lennon in a bid to
spread "hope, peace and promise" in a country still coming to terms with
the violence.
The group assembled at a music festival in the eastern Indian
hilltown of Darjeeling on Thursday, nearly three weeks after the brutal
rape and murder of a student on a moving bus in New Delhi brought an
outpouring of national anger.
"We chose this song because it talks about hope, peace and promise,"
Sonam Bhutia, tourism secretary of Darjeeling and one of the festival
organisers, told AFP by telephone.
"The song is so inspiring. It talks about a universe without any
boundaries," Bhutia said of the 1971 Lennon track.
"The tribute was a gesture on our part to show that we are with the
victim's family in their hour of unimaginable sorrow."
The scenic town of Darjeeling, in a part of India wedged between
Nepal and Bhutan, is famous for its tea. The savage attack on the woman
has triggered countrywide protests with calls for better safety and an
overhaul of laws governing crimes against women.
AFP |