The country’s foremost present-day qawwal Amjad Sabri was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Karachi on June 22. Amjad was instrumental in carrying on with the legacy of his father Ghulam Farid Sabri and uncle Maqbool Sabri who were, arguably, the most celebrated qawwal pair of the subcontinent. Amjad was well-versed in the sufiana kalaam that the duo was famous for and added his own distinct touch to them. He was also a regular on TV shows where he would invariably sing famous qawwalis and songs. He was recently in the news for objecting to the inclusion, without his family’s permission, of the qawwali Bhar de jholi in the Indian film Bajrangi Bhaijaan originally sung by the Sabri brothers. May he rest in peace.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 26th, 2016