CELEBRATED Bangladeshi singer Shahnaz Rahmatullah also known as Shahnaz Begum passed away in Dhaka on March 23 following a cardiac arrest. She was born in 1952 in Dhaka and started her career at a very early age. Soon she became a household name in Pakistan with her melodious voice and popular songs like ‘Sohni Dharti Allah Rakhe’ and ‘Jevay Jevay Pakistan’ composed by music director Sohail Rana, written by Jamiluddin Aali and Masroor Anwar.

After 1971, she started singing for Bangladeshi films and gained immense popularity there as well.

The 67-year-old singer’s career spanned five decades and encompassed a number of genres, particularly national songs.

She had retired from professional singing about seven years ago.

In 1992, she was awarded the Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh. In 2006, Shahnaz’s four songs were ranked on BBC’s list of top 20 greatest Bengali songs of all time.

Kamran Khowaja
Sujawal

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2019