PESHAWAR: Rising Pashto singer Ijaz Ufaq has linked peace and stability in the region to promotion of fine arts and asked stakeholders to join hands for achieving the goal of a peace-loving society.

He told this scribe that music with substance and poetic vision registered an immediate impact on the hearts of audience and it required to be promoted at all costs.

“My main objective is to contribute to societal change through my inborn talent of singing. If sincere efforts are made by stakeholders to promote fine arts both performing and visual, it will lead to peace and stability in the entire region,” Mr Ufaq envisioned.

The Quetta-based young Pashto folk artist has recently received degree of bachelor in musicology from National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore. He has become the first ever Pashtun folk singer having such a degree in artist’s community of Balochistan over the last several decades.

Ijaz Ufaq says music registers immediate impact on audience

The young folk artist caught up with this scribe in Peshawar where he performed live and found some moments to dwell upon his music career and his future plans. He has been performing live for the last 10 years. He recently garnered widespread fame for singing poems of progressive Pashto poets on social media.

Born in Qila Saifullah district of Balochistan in 1995, Ijaz Ufaq completed his early education in Quetta city. He developed a penchant for Pashto poetry and music during his school days and used to scales up his home walls to secretly attend live Pashto musical concerts.

“In Quetta city, I joined a group of tasteful friends, who had great love for fine arts including poetry and music. Even I learnt playing traditional tabla and harmonium during my company with them. I was born to a religious family but my father would never mind my craze for music and my mother was rather a Pashto folk music fad,” he recalled.

Darvaish Durrani and several other progressive and romantic poets inspired young Ijaz Ufaq to delve deep in Pashto folk music. In a short span of time, he shot to fame owing to his velvety voice, drenched in romance and rhythmical resonance. He said that light ghazal singing with traditional musical orchestra drew audience.

“I have been experiencing through my live performance that people are deeply moved and inspired by poetry about peace, human rights and cultural diversity. My social media followers across the globe crossed million as they love Pashto poets like Pir Mohammad Karwan, Rahmat Shah Sail, Mumtaz Orakzai and a few others, who paint real picture of our society,” said Mr Ufaq.

Regarding future plans, he said that he would do a decorate thesis on significance of Pashto folk music, its historical background and its impact on the lifestyle of Pashtun community. He said that he was trying for a foreign scholarship.

“I strongly believe that music is one of best tools to promote love, peace and harmony. History tells us that Pashtun society had been in perfect peace where all forms of fine arts were practiced, respected and advocated religious, linguistic and cultural diversity,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2024