PESHAWAR: Pakistanis cheering news that Rahat Fateh Ali Khan will perform at the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Concert have another reason to rejoice: Pashto music legend Sardar Ali Takkar (pictured) will be performing on the first day of the Nobel Prize ceremony.
Takkar hails from the same province as Malala Yousafzai, who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize jointly with India’s Kailash Satyarthi. He will be performing ‘Ta Bibi Sheerina Ye’, a song he made as a tribute to Malala’s bravery after she was attacked by the Taliban.
On the second day, Takkar will perform a famous poem by Ghani Khan, ‘A zama watan’, in which Ghani Khan expressed his love for the country.
“This is the moment of pride and honour that a Pakistani and a Pashtun singer will perform at the Nobel Prize award ceremony,” Takkar said.
“I will be performing Pashto songs for all the Pakistani girls, the language does not matter because the message is to get well educated and be a part of a larger movement towards peace,” said Takkar.
Takkar is one of the most popular names in Pashto music and is particularly known for converting many of Ghani Khan’s melodies into soothing musical compositions.
In the late 2000’s, he was amongst the musicians who had to flee their country after receiving death threats from the Taliban. These days, Takkar is based in Washington DC and works as a music producer for Voice of America Radio Deewa.
Takkar had initially composed ‘Ta Bibi Sheerina Ye’ for a show of the same name that aired on Voice of America Radio Deewa. Initially the show was about Malala and her heroics, but the later on both the show and the song became so popular that they shifted the focus of the show to girls’ education in general.
“Initially the song was only the title track of the show, but later, due to its universal message of spreading awareness about the importance of education, it became the song of every girl out there,” said Behroz Khan, the lyricist of the song and producer of the show.
Takkar has been allotted five minutes each in the two-day-long event.
Takkar is overwhelmed by Malala’s achievement.
“I am short of words. All I can is that all the Pashtuns around the world are proud of her achievement,” he said.
INTERNEWS
