The Saeed Malik column

Saeed Malik reports on a recent awards ceremony conducted by Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation in Rawalpindi recognising the talents of a number of exponents of classical music.

Slipping into oblivion

For votaries of music, especially its classical genres, it was heartening to learn that Radio Pakistan deemed it necessary to include art music in the categories for which awards were given to several known melodists of the country. At an impressive presentation held on April 15th at the Liaquat Memorial Hall in Rawalpindi, which was billed as the Fourth PBC Excellence Award Ceremony, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation publicly recognised the talent and contributions of a number of frontline practitioners of the melodic arts. 

Syed Anwar Mahmood, Secretary Information, Government of Pakistan, and Chairman of PBC/PTV, was the chief guest at that occasion. Included among the winners of top awards were ghazal singer Mehdi Hasan (lifetime achievement), popular singer Tarranum Naz in the light music category (Noor Jehan award), Ustad Raees Khan (best composer) Ustad Fateh Ali Khan Hyderabadi (super class music category) and the duo of Badaruzzaman-Qamaruzzaman (classical music). With the exception of Noor Jehan award, which carried a sum of Rs.100,000.00, no winner received any cash money with his/her award. It would have been prudent on the part of PBC to give some cash incentive to motivate the artists to carry on with their melodic pursuits with still greater verve and vigour, to win honours in future.

Mere recognition of talent in the form of a certificate or shield does not provide much solace to the generally hand pressed practitioners of the melodic arts in Pakistan. In his presidential remarks, the chief guest was reported to have said that the selection of the awardees was made after a thorough scrutiny of nominations received from different radio stations in the country in each category. Who sat in judgement on the melodic prowess of the nominees sent by different radio stations on an All-Pakistani basis, one wonders. The category of the best music composer has already raised many eyebrows. Sitar player Ustad Raees Khan, undoubtedly, is one of the best players of this delicate instrument, and his knowledge of classical music is also acknowledged to be superb. But declaring him as the best composer of Radio Pakistan (or was it of Pakistan) amounted to over-stretching the imagination. Moreover, his contributions to the art of composition in Pakistan, when compared with other artists like Niaz Ahmad, Nazar Husain and Mujahid Husain, do not put him in high enough position to merit the distinction. 

By making these observations, it is not the intention of this scribe to belittle the musicianship of Ustad Raees Khan, but is mean only to offer an opinion, which is also shared by many members of the music fraternity in Lahore, the hub of musical activities in the country. It would surely have been prudent if Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation had included senior professional musicians, connoisseurs and critics, besides radio officials, to evaluate the melodic prowess and contributions of melodists from different categories before making the final decision about the recipients of the awards.

Sitarist Ustad Rais Ahmed Khan Award for Best Music Director

Lifetime Achievement Award Mehdi Hassan

For centuries, music has more or less remained the exclusive preserve of professional gharana musicians, who have made immeasurable contributions to the flowering, refinement, promotion and preservation of this delicate art. However, occasionally, a few non-professional (in a genetic sense) practitioners of classical genres (and in the art of composition) also appeared on the melodic firmament of the Sub-continent, whose prowess was equal, if not better, to the skill of professional musicians. In the classical vocal category several names of Lahore-based non-gharana melodists come to one's mind, who are still remembered with a touch of reverence by music lovers for the high standards in music they set when they practiced the art. 

The duo of classicists, brothers Badaruzzaman-Qamaruzzaman, provides one shining example of non-professional practitioners of the melodic art, who have pursued their melodic ambitions in the past 42 years. Besides, elder brother Badaruzzaman has contributed much to the production of melodic literature in Pakistan. An educated vocalist (M.A. in political science), he has authored four books in music, in addition to reproducing the one and the only one Maarful Naghmaat, which is considered the best book on music ever published in Urdu during the past 80 years. The inclusion of this duo of non-gharana singers in the list of PBC awardees has been hailed by the votaries of classical music as recognition of their talent will undoubtedly encourage and motivate other musicians in this category to carry on with their melodic pursuits with greater zeal. Non-gharana musicians, it may be mentioned, have to face stiff competition from those practitioners to whom music is transferred genetically. 

Classical duo: Badaruzzaman and Qamaruzzaman

Music composer Niaz Ahmed

Officials in the Ministry of Culture, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad and Department of Culture in Punjab, would do well by considering this duo for the award of the coveted medal of Pride of Performance. Their standing in the musical hierarchy and long experience in kheyal singing amply qualify them for this high civil award for next year. A number of musicians far junior to them and with less experience than theirs, have already received recognition at the highest State level. This scribe had a brief chat with Ustad Badaruzzaman when he returned from Islamabad, where he received the PBC Excellence Award in the category of classical music. Although he was happy over the recognition of his talent by PBC, he could not conceal the sad and subtle nuances of his observations about his exclusion from the list of awardees of the Pride of Performance medal. He thought he and his younger brother Qamaruzzaman were amply qualified for consideration of the award. However, he made it clear that he did not lobby for the PBC Excellence Award and it came to him as a pleasant surprise. Recognition at highest level of the talent of an artist provides him an incentive to strive still harder while pursuing his creative ambitions. It gives him a sense of pride and inject in him the seriousness of purpose without which no artist can achieve heights in his profession. 

Classical music in Pakistan has suffered much in the past because of inattention shown to it by the cultural bureaucracy. It is time that practitioners of classical music of the like of Ustad Badaruzzaman were provided recognition at the State level so that classical music can be prevented from slipping into historical oblivion.