LAHORE, March 27: The government as well as artistes are showing apathy to the living legend of music, Ustad Mehdi Hasan, as they have done nothing for the ghazal singer suffering from paralyses for the last three-and-a-half-years.
Ustad Mehdi Hasan, who along with his two sons -- Arif and Asif -- held a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Saturday, could not help crying as he, sitting on a wheelchair, began to speak, acknowledging media persons' love for him.
"I am from you and you are from me. Standing alone we are nothing. What I've is a blessing of Allah and because of your prayers. I shall again come to serve you if life permits," he said it many times.
Overwhelmed by emotions, Mehdi Hasan, who has ruled the music world of the sub-continent for over three-and-a-half-decades, could not continue talking for long.
His elder son, Arif Mehdi, told reporters that his father was visiting Lahore for the first time after the paralyses stroke, as he wanted to meet his old friends once again. He said they were leaving for India in the first week of May for his father's treatment.
Moreover, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and many artistes from Bollywood had also invited the music maestro to their country, he added.
Answering a question, he said, they were taking their father to India at their own expense because neither the Pakistan nor the Indian governments had offered any financial help for his treatment.
He said they had not yet received even a penny from the government despite announcements by Gen Pervez Musharraf and Sindh governor Ishratul Ebad. "Rather robbers raided our house after media reports that the federal government has given cheque to us."
The Sindh governor had announced Rs500,000 as financial assistance for the great singer.
Arif said the family could not get also anything out of the funds, amounting to millions, collected through a musical show by Indian singer Jagjeet Singh in Karachi last month for the support of the ailing maestro. The show had been arranged by the PIA.
Complaining about the apathy of local artistes, he said, they did not respond to a show arranged by him to raise funds for the treatment of his father two years ago. Even the Sindh authorities declined to offer any sponsorship for the programme, he added.
Asif, the younger son, complained that the then PTV chairman, Anwar Mahmood, had announced a financial help of Rs50,000, but the amount could not be delivered to them though he phoned the authorities around a dozen times.
Replying to a question, he said, the payment of royalty to his father for his music work was suspended over a decade ago. "The only company that had a formal set-up had closed down for long and after that the practice of paying royalties has been discontinued."
Singer Surrayya Khanum, who reached there to pay her tributes to the music maestro, said she and other artistes were ready to perform in fund raisers here and abroad.
