One of the greatest singers of this era and iconic sufi-singer, musician and qawwal Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was awarded with the life-time achievement award and honorary membership by the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) Karachi. This award was presented to Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at a prestigious ceremony that took place on the evening of Tuesday 16th March 2021 at Jaun Elia Lawn, Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi.
Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan becomes the first Pakistani musician to receive this honour from Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi. This was previously awarded to Zia Mohyeddin, Anwer Maqsood, Iftikhar Arif, Amar Jaleel and Asad Muhammad Khan
On this occasion Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan said; “I am feeling honoured to be accepting this award by ACP Karachi as I would say that ACP Karachi is a world-renowned institute of Arts & Culture. I cannot put my feelings into words for the honour that has been bestowed on me”.
Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan added; “Anwar Maqsood is my mentor, he is the legend of words and stories and it is not less than an honor for me to speak in front of him”. He also added that; “President of ACP Karachi, Ahmad Shah chose beautiful words for my introduction”.
Minister of Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that; “there is no grammar of love and music. The greatest musicians of our time are present among us today; it’s an honour for everyone”. He further added that; “the legacy of combination of folk and classical music which was created by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is maintained by Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan”.
President ACP Karachi Mohammad Ahmad Shah said; “we are proud to present Lifetime Achievement Award and the Lifetime Membership of Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi to Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in recognition of his massive achievements”. President of ACP Karachi was was accompanied by the Culture Minister of Sindh Syed Sardar Ali Shah, living legend Anwer Maqsood, International producer Salman Ahmed and Secretary ACP Council Ejaz Ahmed Farooqi.
On the occasion, Ahmed Shah demanded the nomination of Nishan-e-Imtiaz for the music legend Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan from the government of Pakistan.
Highlight of the evening was when legendary writer Anwar Maqsood had an interesting conversation with the Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, in which Anwar Maqsood humorously said; “Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has been singing for a long time but it is surprising to give him this award at this age, he is still very young and this award should be given to those who are involved in NAB cases”.
Event concluded after Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sang “Mera Iman Pakistan” and “Aaj Rang Hai” and received a standing ovation from the audience. During his short performance he remembered his co-performer Late Amjad Sabri.
Kamran Hashim's Blog 