'Entertainment tax is a new act of terror'

Says 26/11 terror attack survivor and musician Schubert Vaz, who performed at a live concert in protest of the tax at Dahisar yesterday
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"AND I, a close survivor of the carnage, still shudder at the thought of all that I saw and felt.

But lo! I now face a new axe, called the entertainment tax," said Schubert Vaz (52), musician and 26/11 survivor, summing up the mood of the live concert in protest of the tax held in Dahisar yesterday.

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Musicians perform at the concert. (Above) Schubert Vaz

The evening saw individual musicians like Vaz joining hands with live bands from the city to protest the levying of the "bizarre" entertainment tax that has left many musicians jobless.

Vaz, a pianist at the Oberoi-Trident for 29 years, feels the levying of the tax is an attack the government has launched against the musician fraternity.

"Although I haven*t lost my job yet, I don*t know what is in store for me. I may have to undergo the same humiliation that other musicians are going through after spending the better part of their lives for music.

After tiding over the depression of the terror attack, the government has forced us to go back into depression through the tax," he said.

Vaz also composed a song titled New Act of Terrorism for the occasion and, while performing it yesterday, dedicated it to Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat.

"Music is my bread and butter. The idea behind the concert was to put up a united front against the new tax and we have succeeded in doing so," he added.

Renowned musicians such as Suraj Jagan and The Ghetto music troupe also performed at the show and made a plea to the government to "let the live music scene stay alive".

Low turnout

While the turnout of music lovers was low at yesterday*s concert, the organisers attributed it to the far-off venue and said they were expecting more people to turn up when musicians like Louis Banks and Shibani Kashyap perform at the Amphitheatre at Carter Road on Sunday.

"We had expected a crowd, but, unfortunately, not many could turn up. We have done our bit to save our industry and the ball is now in the state government*s court.
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We have collected a few signatures for our petition against the tax, which we will submit to the revenue minister," said Lindsay Pitter.

An employee of a five-star hotel, Pitter initiated the idea of the concert after seeing her musician colleagues lose their jobs because of the tax.