Sting defends decision to perform for Uzbekistan's president
International
oi-Prakash KL
By Ramchander
London
(ANI):
British
singer
Sting
has
defended
his
decision
to
perform
for
Uzbekistan"s
president,
insisting
that
calling
off
the
show
would
have
been
a
“pointless
gesture".
The
former
Police
member
had
staged
a
private
concert
last
year
for
President
Islam
Karimov,
who
has
been
slammed
by
officials
at
the
United
Nations,
who
accused
him
of
“institutionalised,
systematic,
and
rampant" torture
in
his
regime.
Sting,
58,
was
criticised
by
Britain"s
former
ambassador
to
Uzbekistan,
Craig
Murray,
who
branded
the
singer
“stupid" to
agree
to
the
gig,
for
which
he
is
rumoured
to
have
been
paid
2
million
pounds.
“It
appears
Sting
is
a
hypocrite.
He"s
incredibly
stupid
to
be
unaware
of
what
sort
of
regime
it
is.
His
human
rights
and
environmental
activism
seem
to
have
flown
out
the
window,"
the
Daily
Express
quoted
Murray
as
having
said.
But
Sting,
who
has
branded
President
Karimov
“medieval"
and
“tyrannical",
has
no
regrets
about
the
private
show.
“I
played
in
Uzbekistan
a
few
months
ago.
The
concert
was
organised
by
the
president"s
daughter
and
I
believe
sponsored
by
Unicef,"
he
said
in
a
statement.
“I
am
well
aware
of
the
Uzbek
president"s
appalling
reputation
in
the
field
of
human
rights
as
well
as
the
environment.
I
made
the
decision
to
play
there
in
spite
of
that.
“I
have
come
to
believe
that
cultural
boycotts
are
not
only
pointless
gestures,
they
are
counter-productive,
where
proscribed
states
are
further
robbed
of
the
open
commerce
of
ideas
and
art
and
as
a
result
become
even
more
closed,
paranoid
and
insular.
“I
seriously
doubt
whether
the
President
of
Uzbekistan
cares
in
the
slightest
whether
artists
like
myself
come
to
play
in
his
country,
he
is
hermetically
sealed
in
his
own
medieval,
tyrannical
mindset,"
he
added.