Who can forget the song that some of our biggest, most well-known vocalists collaborated on recently? And no, we`re not talking about Najam Shiraz`s In Se Nain. The song in question is Yeh Hum Nahin, an effort put forward by a group of individuals to try and project a more positive image of Pakistanis to nations across the world is almost synonymous to the collaboration done by American artistes on We are the World (1985).

Artistes working together to raise money for charity or create social awareness about an issue they feel is closest to their heart isn`t unheard of. The Live Aid concerts aimed to promote environment-friendly living/world is just one example. The final version of We are the World was penned by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and was produced by Quincy Jones. The original idea was to raise funds to facilitate famine-relief in Ethiopia in 1984-85.

The super group that performed We are the World came together under the banner of USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa). Other than Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, some of the artistes that collaborated on We are the World included the likes of Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Randy Jackson (now of American Idol fame), Billy Joel, Cindy Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Bette Midler, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Stevie Wonder. The song immediately hit the number one slot on the charts in 17 countries across the globe.

We are the World also inspired a Spanish single called Cantaré, Cantarás.

But it didn`t start there; We are the World was inspired by the British supergroup Band-Aid which was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, also to raise funds for Eithiopia. The name of the band was to represent “bands providing aid.” They released a song titled Do They Know It`s Christmas? (1984), specifically for the Christmas market. Since then, four versions of Do They Know It`s Christmas? have been recorded and released.

The original participants of Band Aid-I (Band Aid-II and Band Aid 20 which subsequently came about have differing line-ups) included the likes of Bob Geldof, Phil Collins, Paul Young, Marilyn, Bono, Adam Clayton, James Taylor, George Michael, Sting, David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Boy George amongst others.

“The idea was the same,” says Waseem Mahmood, the chairman of the Yeh Hum Nahin Foundation and author of Good Morning Afghanistan. “It was a huge challenge to try and put all of this together and in the end we managed to get eight, I think, of the top 10 involved.”

Yeh Hum Nahin has been composed by Shuja Haider and written by Ali Moin. It features the likes of Shafqat Amanat Ali, Ali Haider, Hadiqa Kiyani, Faisal Kapadia, Bilal Maqsood, Haroon, Ali Zafar and Shuja Haider. The song was then mixed and mastered by Madonna`s producer in London where it also received a massive response.

Talking about how Yeh Hum Nahin took off he says, “It started several years ago post-9/11. My children were concerned about two things, first with the way the media was portraying Muslims in the West by stereotyping them.” He pauses then continues, “I remember one incident where my children came back very upset one day because they were told they were bad Muslims because they ate pasta and Shepard`s Pie. It wasn`t the issue of halal, it was just that they ate western foods. They said `Look dad, you have got to do something about this`.

“It`s not about educating the West or trying to change their perception. It`s about changing our own perceptions and who we are, hence Yeh Hum Nahin,” Waseem clarifies when asked whether the campaign runs on the defensive of Pakistanis trying to prove that they are, in fact, not terrorists. “Using the song as a tool, because music reaches out to everyone, we`re empowering the individual. It`s up to the individual to look around him and to ensure that people don`t get sucked into this...maybe we`ll have a national anti-terror day.”

The response the song generated was overwhelming to say the least, but it also spurned the Yeh Hum Nahin Foundation members into further action. They decided that phase two would be to get a nationwide petition signed, an endorsement of sorts for the campaign and the anti-terrorism message it was trying to convey. “We thought we would get a million or so signatures and that would be great,” laughs Waseem. “But hey, we`ve got 60 million in a month. It`s pheno         menal!”

Waseem also told Images that there are probably collaborations with international artistes in the pipeline. He can`t say for sure right now but they`re definitely working on it and some individuals have expressed interest. “Terrorism is as big a problem as global warming, it is as big a problem as world debit. And maybe we can have a series of concerts around the world where Muslims artistes can reach out to their Western counterparts. Maybe they can do collaborations...let`s see,” he says sounding optimistic. — HS