Expatriate fans mourn death of legendary singer Mehdi Hassan

The legendary India-born artist Mehdi Hassan passed away in Karachi yesterday at the age of 84. He sang ghazal, an ancient form of poetic verse, with a melodious voice that made him well known as the “king of ghazal”. He was also highly regarded in the Pakistani film industry. Lately, he suffered from multiple organ failure and a medical ventilator helped him breathe.
The singer of the hit “Patta Patta Boota Boota” has left millions of fans in India, Pakistan and around the world in sadness. Indian and Pakistani expatriates living in the Kingdom expressed grief on Hassan’s sudden death.
Shahbaz Khan, an IT engineer, said that Hassan was a legend, and the circumstances of his death were not acceptable.
“His melodious voice and ghazals will forever remain in our hearts. His government and nation neglected him and he did not receive the proper medical attention a famous person of his cultural status warranted. He was not given the due respect he deserved as a legend of the nation,” said Khan.
Baber Siddiqui, a businessman, said we do not care enough about legendary personalities like Mehdi Hassan in their lifetime. Asian countries should take better care of such personalities. “This is not only a loss for Pakistan but for the music world as a whole. We lost a legend of our mother tongue Urdu, though he will remain in our hearts,” he added.
Amir Mohammed, chairman of Pakistan’s Journalist Forum, said, “We just care about these artists while they are in the field, but after they reach an age at which they can no longer perform, we forget about them. We don’t respect them anymore. Hassan was a very big name in the Indo-Pak music world, he served the nation and world with his music, but in his last days he didn’t get the respect and attention he deserved,” he added.
Azhar Ali Zai, an aviation officer, also paid tribute to the legend and expressed sorrow on his death saying that the vacuum Hasan left will never be filled.
“We should be doing something for these legendary artists, not only after their death but during their lifetime. We don’t give them the respect and place in society they deserve. We don’t care for them when they can no longer perform or have become old,” said Zai.
“Mehdi Hassan will always be remembered with great fondness and pride. I hope the younger generation will carry on his rich legacy,” said Mir Gazanfar Ali Zaki, general secretary of the Indian Youth Welfare Association.
“Hassan was an ambassador of music for the world, who leaves behind a treasure of soul touching music. His unique style of presenting Urdu couplets and giving a classical touch to soulful melodies made him the emperor of ghazals, an artist who had no boundaries. The golden era of ghazal is over, my sincere condolences to his bereaved family members,” Zaki added.
Hassan was born into a family of traditional musicians at Luna village in India's Rajasthan state in 1927. His family migrated to Pakistan at the time of partition in 1947.
Hassan cut back on his performances in the late 1980s due to illness. He left behind nine sons and five daughters. He married twice and had outlived both his wives.