CHARSADDA: Noted Pashto folk artist Zawar Ali Shah died of kidney failure at a local hospital here on Tuesday, family sources confirmed. He was 48.

He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Rajjar tehsil. A large number of artists from Mardan, Nowshera and Peshawar attended his funeral prayers.

The deceased left behind a widow, three sons and two daughters to mourn his death.

Former provincial law minister Sultan Mohammad Khan, who also attended the funeral, asked the KP culture directorate to extend financial assistance to the family of late artist.

Hunari Tolana Welfare Society, Charsadda chapter, also showed deep sorrow over the death of the folk singer and demanded that family of the late singer should be taken care of as he was its sole breadwinner.

According to family sources, Mr Shah had been bed-ridden due to kidney ailment for over a year, and was under treatment, but couldn’t survive the fatal disease.

Zawar Ali Shah alias Santosh had received music education from his father, late Zarnosh Ustad, and then from Master Ali Haider. He had worked with several popular folk artists.

Zawar Shah had launched his singing career when he was in his early teens. He passed his intermediate from Government Degree College, Charsadda.

He performed on PTV Peshawar and Radio Peshawar on several occasions and also had released around 15 albums as he had sung popular numbers of Ghani Khan, Rahmat Shah Sail, Gran Bacha and Prof Abaseen Yousafzai.

Meanwhile, Rashid Khan, chief of KP Hunari Tolana Welfare Society, called upon philanthropists to contribute to the welfare fund for the late artist.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2021