PESHAWAR: Noted singers released the much awaited video album titled ‘Qabaili Khawray’ containing 11 patriotic Pashto songs here the other day.

The promo of the video was launched on social media a few days ago where it got a tremendous response from the audience and its likes and comments ran into millions owing to its quality contents and music composition.

Popular singer and director of the video album, Bakhtiar Khattak, told this scribe that it was a thematic project with an objective to showcase the horrors of war and benefits of peace and also to tell the world that tribal people had great love for their homeland. The video album, he said, had been shot on scenic sites of Waziristan, Khyber, Momand and Kurram tribal districts.

Director says project completed in three months to showcase horrors of war

He said that noted Pashto singers Karan Khan, Sana Tajik, Zeek Afridi, Humayun Khan, Laila Khan and Naseer Afridi along with him took three months to complete the project with a theme of spreading peace and love for homeland as the poetic pieces contributed by late Sahib Shah Sabir, Mumtaz Orakzai, Jafar Khan, Bismil Kakakhel, Mehar Andesh and Humayun Khan.

Mr Khattak said that the wonderful music arrangement by Asif and Yammi lent a unique expression to the album. “It is in a sense paying tributes to the heroes of the soil and also advocating peace and boosting positive image of the most resilient of the country and the tribal people at large. Every single song is a masterpiece because it comes out of soul and travels back to the soul,” he added.

Karan Khan said on the occasion that Pashto literature was rich in patriotic poetry. He added that such poems required to be sung so that the audience could know the beauty of the diction and style of expression of the classics.

Music buff Arshad Wasim in his comment said Pashto folk poetry had great musicality and folk singers had always sung it with love and devotion.

He said that patriotic songs aroused the positive feelings and emotions of the people to hate war and love peace.

“I think well off people should sponsor such projects as most artists don’t have resources and also lack technical facilities. I enjoyed the album for its beautiful music composition and attractive visuals that well corresponded to ravages of war and beautiful faces of peace in the entire region. The message is loud and clear,” said Mr Wasim.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2019