NewsJune 23, 2016
13 musicians and artists killed in Pakistan since 2008
KARACHI: The murder of Prominent Qawwal Amjad Sabri is not the first case of silencing the soft and melodious voices of Pakistan, almost 13 musicians, singers and artists have been killed across the country since 2008.
Most of the artists who have been killed by fundamentalist belonged to Khyber Pukhtunkhawa and majority was the women. Peshawar has been the deadliest city for the artists.
Amjad Sabri is the latest tragic incident of Pakistan’s history in which he was gunned down on Wednesday in Karachi.
Model and stage dancer Sangam Rana’s body was found hanging by the ceiling fan in December, 2015 in Lahore.
Pashto telefilm actress Mussarat Shaheen was shot dead in a targeted attack by unknown assailants in August 2015 in Nowshera. Mussarat acted in local dramas which were sold on computer discs.
Artist Sana and drumbeater Ibrahim were killed in Swabi while returning to home after performing in a wedding party in December 2014.
A popular female Pashto singer Gulnar alias Muskan was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Peshawar in the month of December 2013.
Another prominent singer Saima Naz breathed her last in November 2013 as she was seriously injured when his brother opened fire on her in Peshawar.
Renowned Pashto language singer Ghazala Javed was shot dead along with her father in Peshawar in the month of June 2012 in Peshawar. Ghazala was visiting a beauty parlour in Mohalla Nuo, Dabagari for pre-show preparations. When she left the saloon with her father, two unknown armed men riding a motorbike fired on her.
A Quetta-based popular Pashtun singer and television actress Yasmeen Gul was found dead at her home in November 2010. Gul was well-known in Pashtun communities on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border for her performances of folk songs.
In the month of March 2010, another young female dancer Afsana was killed while her two sisters and two other performers escaped unhurt as they were waylaid on their way back from a dance party in Peshawar.
Kamal Mehsud, the most famous singer of Waziristan, died in January 2010 in a fire that broke out in his house in Islamabad when his family was away for a wedding ceremony. The family accused he had been target killed by the Taliban. The killers tampered with the gas system of the house that led to the fatal fire breakout.
Ayman Udas, a rising female vocalist in Peshawar, was shot at her home, allegedly by her own brothers in April 2009.
Shabana, one of Pakistan’s celebrated dancers, was shot dead in Mingora on 2 January 2009 after defying the Taliban’s ban on music and dance.
Armed men dragged Shabana away from her home in Banr Bazaar, and she begged them to shoot her rather than slit her throat. Her body was found slumped on the ground in the centre of Mingora city’s Green Square, strewn with bank notes, CDs of her dance performances and pictures from her photo album.
On 15 December 2008, a group of musicians were attacked by armed men in Malakand. Two days later at a hospital in Peshawar, the harmonium player Anwar Gul died from his wounds.
Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk
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