LAHORE, June 30: The launching of Khalid Malik Haider's book Urdu Mousiqi ended in a fiasco here on Wednesday when a classical maestro pointed out faults in it and accused the author of plagiarism.

Ustad Badruz Zaman gave his opinion when the book launching ceremony at Nairang Galleries was almost over. He said the book contained no references, the information given about different ragas was not correct, material has been lifted from the works of V. H. Bhatkhande without mentioning his name, the composition text of all ragas and their historical background was wrong.

The classical singer also rendered various ragas to substantiate his assertion. This led to arguments and counter-arguments among the audience, the author and the Ustad. Unable to pacify the participants, the organizers invited them to tea and the ceremony ended.

Other speakers, producer Nasrin Anjum Bhatti of Radio Pakistan, Nespak chairman Dr Amjad Pervaiz and Saeed Malik appreciated Khalid Haider's effort to compile facts about all forms of music. All Pakistan Music Conference president Hayat Ahmad Khan, who was the chief guest, could not give his comments on the book because of the disturbance.