Pakistani musician and friend of beleaguered Sufi singer speaks out in his support

IT has not been an easy time for Ustad Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Barely out of detention after being caught with unaccounted money at the Delhi airport, his future in India remains uncertain.

While the Paki-bashers in Bollywood such as singer Abhijit Bhattacharya are having a field day, a small but strong and stout solidarity for the beleaguered Sufi singer has come up.

One of Rahat's supporters, a Pakistani singer, who frequently records songs in Mumbai, spoke in defence of Rahat on condition of anonymity.

"We can see how much fun some of the out-of-work frustrated musicians in Bollywood are having at poor Rahat's expense.

No one is showing support. He has broken a foreign-exchange rule, but to insinuate that he is a spy or involved in a hawala scam is just spiteful and mean.

Has anyone bothered to find out why Rahat's financial transaction in India is done in cash? The truth is that we Pakistani artistes are not allowed to open any bank account on Indian soil.

That's right! People of any nationality are allowed to have a bank account in India but us, Pakistanis.

"It took Adnan Sami several years to establish bank services for his money in India. And after a decade in India he still can't own property!

Why must we pay the price of the political hostility between the two countries? We don't hate Indians and they don't hate us. Barring an Abhijit or an Aadesh Shrivastava we aren't hated in the music industry either, " he observed.

The musician known for his dulcet ditties that make the girls swoon said: "Whether it is Adnan or Rahat or Ali Zafar, we go to India to record because we are wanted there.

No filmmaker in Mumbai invites us to sing because they feel sorry for our lack of opportunities here, or because they want to improve Indo-Pak relations. We are called to sing in India because our voices are liked. No one is doing us a favour."

"Why isn't Abhijit Bhattacharya getting any work? Does he blame Pakistani singers for taking away his work? I guess he needs a scapegoat.

And please ask him if he hates the presence of Pakistanis in the industry, then what was he doing performing at a wedding in Karachi some time ago?" he added.

This singer from across the border feels Indian laws that isolate and earmark Pakistanis should be revised. "At the moment there are two categories of foreigners in India.

The Pakistanis and the rest. That has to change. We are not in India to spy. We are in India to sing."