Pakistan’s champion of Punjabiyat remembered on his death anniversary 

For more than five decades that he remained a music legend in both ‘lehenda Punjab’ (in Pakistan) and ‘chadhda Punjab’ (in India) on both sides of the border, Shaukat Ali, who passed away in Lahore last year at 77, continues to bridge both countries with his music, even after his death. On Sunday, a gathering organised in Punjabi Bhawan of Ludhiana remembered the late singer on his first death anniversary. Ali died of liver cirrhosis last year.

Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from Lahore, his son Imran Shaukat Ali, who along with his brother Mohsin Shaukat Ali is now taking ahead his father’s legacy, said that during his entire lifetime and career, his father tried to act as a bridge between both countries and reduce differences through his music.

“Bhagwant Mann saab used to regard him as his father. We participated in his marriage rituals like family. In 1982, when my father visited Delhi to perform at the Asian Games, he also met Amrita Pritam and recorded one of her writings. Then in 2012, Bhagwant Mann and Harbhajan Mann organised my father’s performance at Ludhiana’s GGN Khalsa College where they both sat on the ground during his entire performance as a mark of respect. My father got so much love and respect from India that he always used to mourn the decision of Partition that was taken years back. He always said that India and Pakistan were sons of the same mother. From Hans Raj Hans to Sarool Sikander, Gurdas Mann to Harbhajan Mann, all Punjabi music legends from India gave the place of ‘Guru’ to my father,” said Imran Shaukat Ali.

The late singer was one of the rare champions of Punjabiyat who fought for the rights of the Punjabi language in Islamic country Pakistan, and his passing was mourned by the literary and folk community in India too.

Belonging to Mandi Bahawaldin in Pakistan’s Malaqwal, Shaukat Ali’s father Faqir Mohammad, was a tabla player and his maternal uncle, Mehtab Ali Khan, was a classical singer and both used to perform in pre-Partition Punjab.

Imran said that his father had started singing in 1962 and had recorded his first song when he was just 17. “It was a song ‘Pagdi Utaar Chora’ from the Punjabi film ‘Tees Maar Khaan’ and it was released in 1963. Since then he never looked back,” said Imran.

His songs, which were mostly self-written and created a wave in both India and Pakistan, were ‘Kyu door door rehendey o huzoor mere kolon’, ‘Jab bahaar aai to sehar ki taraf chal nikla’, ‘Challa’, ‘Kadi tey hass bol ve’, ‘Tera sone da koka’, ‘Saif ul malook’, ‘Kanwan udd kanwan maa jannat da parchawaan’, ‘Main sapna sa mainu bhul jaween’, ‘Dass ve wakeela..’ among others.

The gathering in Ludhiana on Sunday was organised by an umbrella of organizations including Chetna Prakashan, Gulati Publishers Surrey (Canada), Punjabi Sahitya Akademi Ludhiana, Punjabi Lok Virasat Academy and Vision
of Punjab.

Dr Guriqbal Singh, general secretary, Punjabi Sahitya Akademi, said, “We have been listening to the songs of Shaukat Ali since our youth. He sang for almost 55 years.”

Iqbal Mahal, director of Visions of Punjab, Toronto, said: “Shaukat Ali was a perfect artist who taught singing to singers of both countries.” Prof Gurbhajan Singh Gill, chairman, Punjabi Lok Virasat Academy, Ludhiana, “I first met him at the Attari railway station in 1996 when he visited Punjab with other artists. They performed ‘awal allah noor upaaia kudrat de sab bandey’ in the information centre of Darbar Sahib and it was mesmerising. He came to Ludhiana with his son at the wedding of the present Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. His son Mohsin Ali was customary ‘sarwala’ in Mann’s marriage. Later, he also came with Mohsin for a musical evening at GGN Khalsa College Ludhiana at the invitation of Harbhajan Mann and Bhagwant Mann. Both Harbhajan and Bhagwant attended the entire show sitting on the ground in his honour.”

A tribute message sent by Harbhajan Mann was also played during the gathering.