Artist From Popular Singers' Family Voice Artists Grievances In Karachi

Sindh government should take more practical steps for preservation and promotion of art -- musicians and singers- in the country and extend all support and ownership especially to those who have devoted their lives and their families do pay big price only to keep alive singing and music as a heritage from their ancestors.

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 07th Mar, 2018 ) :Sindh government should take more practical steps for preservation and promotion of art -- musicians and singers- in the country and extend all support and ownership especially to those who have devoted their lives and their families do pay big price only to keep alive singing and music as a heritage from their ancestors.

Due to lack of support and facilitation, many singers from popular classical and folk singers' families including those from Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and family were frustrated and depressed.

Two members of this family - Ustad Rajab Ali Khan and Roshan Abbas Khan had left the country because of this reason and were successfully running their music academy in London, said son of Ustad Waheed Ali Khan (member of this classical singers' family) and a folk singer Iqrar Waheed Ali while talking to APP here.

Another son of late Ustad Waheed Ali Khan, Lateef Waheed Ali had won the top medal award in Asia Super Star Music Competition, held in Delhi. Fifty singers -- classical and mini classical -- were selected for final round of this super competition from 5,0000 singers gathered in the Indian capital city from all over the Asia, he said.

These singer brothers are the seventh generation of the great artists' family with its first member Ustad Hadu Hasu Khan who was student of Mian Tansen. There is a long list of popular singers from this family including Baday Khan Saheb, Ustad Miraan Bakhsh Khan, Ustad Piyaro Ali Khan, Ustad Umeed Ali Khan, Ustad Ghulam Rasool Khan, Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Hameed Ali Khan, Ustad Waheed Ali Khan, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan and Roshan Abbas Khan, Iqrar Waheed Ali and Master Lateef Waheed Ali.

Iqrar Waheed Ali regretted that the government, specially Culture Department of Sindh, appeared least interested to promote singers and musicians in the province. He complained that the Culture Department neglected many senior and reputed singers in most of the government sponsored cultural programmes in and outside the country.

He said Sindh government should provide logistics and financial support and facilitation for promoting art, along with taking care of artists' families by making good arrangement for their livelihood including giving government jobs to at least one deserving family member.

He maintained that many artists and their families were living very tough life because of short income from their profession and non-availability of alternative source of earning. It had also become very difficult for them to provide education to their children.

For feeding their families, senior and popular singers had to perform at very small and low profile programmes, he mentioned. "For our survival and producing new artists, we need respect from government and the society, and a good source of livelihood," he remarked.

He was of the view that most of officials in Sindh Culture Department did know very little about art and culture. It would be proper to appoint children of singers, literary figures and poets in this department so that they could better play their role on this account.

Master Iqrar Waheed Ali sought financial and logistic support from the government to observe 19th death anniversary of his father Ustad Waheed Ali Khan on April 7, in Hyderabad. " At least, I should be exempted from the charges for Mumtaz Mirza Memorial Auditorium in Qasimabad (Hyderabad) for holding my father's death anniversary programme", he appealed to Sindh Government.

He told that many famous singers, poets and literary figures would be invited to perform and speak on the personality of his father Ustad Waheed Ali Khan. Master Iqrar Waheed Ali informed that he wanted to establish a musical academy in the name of his father labeled "Ustad Waheed Ali Khan Musical Academy" in Hyderabad for promotion of art.

He demanded that his father, who earned big name in and outside the country as classical singer, be honoured with the Presidential Award. He appealed to Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair to play his role in getting Presidential Award for his father.