The second week of SurKshetra introduced the jury of the show to the world. Contestants from both countries performed in front of the jury. Even though there weren’t any points given this week, the contestants were introduced to the jury as well as the captains of both teams.

There is a lot to write about since the world buzzing about the episodes this week and everyone is tweeting, blogging and posting about it on different platforms.  One unanimous feedback coming our way is that everyone loved Atif Aslam’s rendition of "Dilbar Merey” followed by a duet with Asha Bhosle, singing "Chura Liya”. We are very proud of our superstar and his performance this week. It wasn’t long ago that these reality shows intentionally attacked Atif and his success. Atif, as always, kept quiet and focused on his work. Through his hard work, dedication and the blessings of Allah, he is now a prominent member of a singing competition himself and has been given the power to have an opinion. However, unlike other members of the show, Atif isn’t misusing the power and authority that has been given to him. The world of social media has been quite active this week and people are clearly sensing favoritism and bias on the jury panel. Even Indian music lovers who have watched the show with a practical approach have been commenting on the bias that is being shown towards the Indian contestants by a particular jury member. Atif Aslam respects the musical legends of India, he has always respected them. In fact the first song he ever hummed was by Kishore Kumar and he often mentions it in his interviews. However, it is only fair to treat every contestant equally, whether it’s the points or the comments. There were many instances this week where Pakistani contestants were being treated differently as opposed to the Indian contestants. Pakistani contestants were being advised to sing softly while Indian contestants singing high pitch were being given a standing ovation. One Pakistani contestant was rightfully advised to work on his dialect and pronunciation; it was a very good advice. However, when an Indian contestant was advised the same by a jury member, another jury member stated that pronunciation isn’t that important nowadays so that mistake is forgiven. The same jury member kept quiet when the Pakistani contestant was being advised the same. These small instances will add up to a lot when accumulated. It doesn’t make sense if one Pakistani contestant is appreciated for his hard work while the others are subjected to criticism for things that are being blatantly ignored for the Indian contestants. Atif asks a question to the other captain or makes a statement about the other captain but the reply, the response comes from a different source. We were not going to post anything about all this; we didn’t feel it was necessary to talk about favoritism and bias. However, the feedback from the people watching the show from both countries has encouraged us, motivated us to write about it. We are proud of the sensible viewership of the show and we appreciate the fact that these actions are being pointed out to us. People are being vocal about it. In fact we are pleasantly surprised that the viewers have picked up on these things so early. Legends of the industry will always be respected by Atif Aslam but when it comes to fairness, he will not compromise the ability and hard work of his team and won’t be afraid to speak his mind about it.

Atif has repeatedly mentioned that this is not a war for him, it is a message of peace and love, a healthy competition played in the right spirit from his side. But it doesn’t mean that anything goes. Any competition has certain rules and guidelines and we can only enjoy the competition if these rules and guidelines are followed in each case, not just selective rulings. Atif’s approach of peace and love doesn’t mean that he will let anyone be unfair to his team. It also doesn’t mean that he will be disrespectful to anyone unlike other members on the show. He will always be respectful and polite in his approach but won’t hold back about what he feels. Hence, his positive and friendly approach should not be mistaken for a complacent captain.

The coming week will bring different point of views from both captains in terms of the judgment and there will surely be some fireworks on the show. We will keep all the Aadeez updated about the happenings of the week with another blog next week. We will simply share our point of view and Atif’s point of view from the episode; we feel it is quite simple and logical. As simple as the logic Atif had about the backup vocals but even that issue was complicated by others. Anyway, see you next week.