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SRINAGAR: In a modest workshop filled with the fragrance of seasoned wood, 78-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Zaz continues a craft his family has preserved for eight generations — the making of the Kashmiri santoor.

Surrounded by tools that have outlived artisans, he works slowly, each strike and polish echoing centuries of tradition crafting the musical instrument.

“Seven generations have worked and I am the eighth; I have no guarantee anyone after me will do this work,” Zaz said softly, speaking in Kashmiri.

Once, several of his family members shared this craft in the heart of Kashmir’s main city Srinagar, in the Indian-administered part of the Himalayan territory.

Today, he is the last in the city to make the instruments by hand.

“If I tell anyone to make something, they won’t know what to do or how to make it,” said Zaz, who produces around eight to 10 instruments every year, selling for around 50,000 rupees ($565) each.

“It is not as simple as just picking some wood — one needs to find the right kind of wood.”

The santoor, a hundred-stringed zither-like instrument played with hammers, has long been central to Kashmir’s musical identity, giving the Muslim-majority region its cultural distinctiveness.

The contested Himalayan territory has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.

Militants have fought Indian rule, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad.

In May, clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals sparked the worst fighting since 1999, killing more than 70 people in missile, drone and artillery exchanges.

MYSTICAL MUSIC

Historically, the santoor formed the backbone of ” Sufiana music,” Kashmir’s mystical music tradition, with its hypnotic and reverberating sound bringing tranquility.

“Musicians used to come from Iran to Kashmir, they used to play santoor and other instruments,” said Muzaffar Bhat, a music professor at a government college in Anantnag.

“They used to sing in Persian... we adapted the santoor from them and assimilated it into our music.”

The instrument received a new life in the 20th century.

In the 1950s, celebrated Indian musician Shivkumar Sharma — born in Jammu and Kashmir in 1938 — used the santoor to play classical music.

“Due to that, this became popularised in the classical circles throughout India,” Bhat said.

Suddenly, the santoor was no longer confined to Kashmiri sufiana gatherings — it had become a celebrated voice in Indian classical music.

Yet tradition faced challenges as Western instruments and global music trends began to overshadow local sounds.

“A lot of our traditional Kashmiri instruments became sidelined,” said Bhat.

For craftsmen like Zaz, this meant fewer patrons, fewer students, and the slow decline of a centuries-old family profession.

Zaz sells his instruments in Kashmir, but also receives orders from Europe and the Middle East.

But there is hope. A revival, however modest, is taking root.

“Since the last few years, a new trend has started,” Bhat said. “Our youngsters have started to learn our traditional instruments.”

DEARBORN: Two elected American officials on Saturday criticized political silence in the US regarding Israel’s genocide in Gaza despite growing public anger.

California Congressman Ro Khanna and Garlin Gilchrist II, Michigan’s lieutenant governor, addressed the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee convention in Dearborn, which was attended by Arab News.

Khanna said more and more of his fellow Democrats, and even Republicans, have broken with their traditional party stance of supporting Israel.

He asked: “How can you be a Democrat in Congress and not believe that it’s time for the US to recognize Palestinian aspirations” when Israel’s government is “erasing Palestinian identity” and considering annexing the West Bank?

Khanna criticized Republicans and Democrats for turning a blind eye in exchange for millions in pro-Israel campaign donations.

“You have four out of the five permanent (UN) Security Council members, over a 150 countries calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state, and somehow the US isn’t,” he said.

“And they’re saying I don’t have moral clarity. They’re blind. They’re making us on the side of the pariah in world opinion,” he added.

Gilchrist said he is not afraid to call Israel’s brutality in Gaza what it is. “The Netanyahu government is committing a genocide. This isn’t a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of fact. This has been established by the global leaders who study genocide,” he added.

“This isn’t something we should support. American taxpayer dollars shouldn’t fund … weapons of war while children are starving,” Gilchrist said to a standing ovation.

“Our medical resources are being blocked to civilians while many innocent families are being oppressed … Candidates shouldn’t accept money from those who support the genocide. That’s why, as a candidate for governor of Michigan, I won’t accept money from AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee).

“I respect all people, their human dignity, everyone’s God-given right to be safe, the right to a future not cut short by violence, hunger or war, the right to a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food in your belly.

“I see a future where these rights are protected and guaranteed in Michigan and around the globe.”

Acknowledging that many relatives of victims in Gaza live in the Greater Detroit region, he noted: “You see, in Michigan, too many people are hurt.”

Gilchrist — who has served as the state’s 64th lieutenant governor since 2019, and is among three candidates in the August 2026 Democratic primary election contest — received a lengthy standing ovation when he declared: “It’s wrong … to vilify Arabs and Muslims. … As governor, I won’t stand for it.”

During a banquet celebrating ADC’s 45th anniversary, awards were presented to several activists and speakers for their courage in defending Arab rights.

Among them were two doctors, Mohammed Mustafa and Mohammed Tahir, who worked to save hundreds of lives in Gaza. 

They spoke about the horrors of the injuries they witnessed to the elderly, to women, and to children as young as infants.

Panels included discussions on the impact of social media on swinging US public opinion away from Israel, and how platform owners are trying to censor posts to protect Israel by using computer algorithms and keywords. 

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, former director for the Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services for Wayne County, discussed his candidacy for Michigan’s US Senate race in next year’s Democratic primary contest.

There were also discussions about student protests and campaigns to reverse laws adopted by 36 US states against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.