Zubin Mehta Has Engaged In Untiring Efforts To Convert Music Into An Instrument Of Peace And Harmony, Says…

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Annual Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the year 2013 to Maestro Zubin Mehta at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (September 6, 2013).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said we are not only honouring a distinguished son of India, but we are recognizing his untiring efforts, over the decades, to convert music into an instrument of peace and harmony. He has made it his mission to bring hope and reason wherever there is conflict and discord. Zubin Mehta’s music has the power to transcend boundaries. He has earned for himself a unique position in the musical narrative of the world.

The President said it is a matter of pride for India that even though he is considered to be a citizen of the world, he has retained his Indian citizenship and, as he traverses the five continents and enthralls with his performances, he is India’s cultural ambassador. As he reaches out, through his music, to inspire states and their people with his message of tolerance and peace, we pay tribute to him for his unfailing efforts to foster unity and understanding among the communities of the world. His spirit and dedication is an affirmation of Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of "that heaven of freedom” where the world is not divided "by narrow domestic walls”.

Also present on the occasion were Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister for Home Affairs, Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Union Minister of Culture and Shri Ravindra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Culture.

This release issued at 1310 hrs